Menu Planning Monday (On Saturday)

So, I just spent the last 2 hours planning our meals. We have 12 dinners before we get paid. Since money is a little tight, I decided to try to get all 12 dinners (plus lunches and breakfast stuff) out of our normal amount of money for one week of groceries. My plan is to make 6 meals that can all be eaten twice or that I can used to make another meal. So, for all of the meals that are casseroles, I will make the whole recipe and separate it into 2 or 3 8x8 pans depending on how much it makes. We will eat one that night and save the other for the next week. Hopefully, we will like these recipes enough to eat them twice so close together : ). My estimated cost of all of these meals plus lunch and breakfast stuff for my boys is going to be $100. I will let you know what happens!

Sunday - Pizza (I am trying a new technique this week and new dough recipe that is supposed to make the pizza thin and crispy. It uses semolina flour and slow rising overnight. I will let you know how it turns out and pass on the recipe.)
Monday - Sunny Anderson's Chicken Broccoli Casserole
Tuesday - Chicken Parmigiano
Wednesday - Chicken Parm Subs (made from leftover chicken parm)
Thursday - Giada's Ragu with Mint (It is made with ground lamb but I will more than likely use ground beef unless there is an awesome sale on ground lamb...which I doubt.)
Friday - My mac-n-cheese topped with bacon and onions
Saturday - Pizza
Sunday - Sunny Anderson's Chicken Broccoli Casserole
Monday - Giada's Ragu with Mint
Tuesday - My mac-n-cheese topped with bacon and onions
Wednesday - Pan fried Chicken with gravy and rice (Chicken breasts are on sale at Lowe's foods for $1.99 a pound)

Menu Planning Monday

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Monday: Parmesan Crusted Salmon (I am probably going to add some bread crumbs and parsley to the cheese and top it with balsamic drizzle and pesto...recipe to follow) and Truffle Garlic Creamed Potatoes
Tuesday: Engagement Chicken with rice
Wednesday: Grilled Tilapia with lemon butter, capers and orzo
Thursday: Chicken Picatta with rice (I am using a combo of this recipe and a recipe that I have in a magazine.)
Friday: Spaghetti with meat sauce (recipe to come...)
Saturday: French Onion Salisbury Steak (Recipe to come...)
Sunday: Pizza

Talia's Pesto
In a food processor, blend:
1 cup fresh basil (or you can use cilantro during the winter...really good)
1/2 cup pecans (or you can use pine nuts but I prefer pecans)
5 garlic cloves
1/2 cup asiago cheese (or parmesan or a mixture of both)
coarse ground black pepper (about one tsp)
kosher salt

Gradually add 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup EVOO until desired consistency (thick paste). You will want to taste and add salt and pepper as you like.

Thrifty Thursday: AMAZING pizza dough

Ok...so just the other day I posted a pizza recipe that I got from my cooking classes. However, you have to let the dough rise overnight. I didn't plan ahead for tonight's pizza night so I had to find a different recipe. I am SO glad I did! I found a pizza dough recipe on allrecipes.com. It is seriously amazing!! I had to add more flour as some of the other people commented. I added about a half a cup more flour. Just add flour until the dough has formed into a good consistency. You want it to be a little sticky (just use flour on your hands). Also, I put mine in a warm oven (turn your oven on about 200 degrees for a few minutes and then turn it off) and covered it with a thin dish towel to let it rise. You just want the oven to be warm...not hot. The cost of two pizzas (cheese, garlic, pepperoni for toppings) is around $7.00!!!



Now, for a few things that you must do in order to make this pizza dough taste like pizza at a restaurant. First of all, make sure that the dough triples in size while rising before forming it into a pizza crust. Mine took about an hour but it will all depend on the weather that day. I also double this recipe to make two pizzas since my boys can down some pizza!

The other pretty important thing is to use a pizza stone. I have one large and one medium round stone from pampered chef. I used 3/4ths of the dough for the large and the rest for the medium. I promise that it will make a HUGE difference in the crust of your pizza. There is no need to spray the stone with non-stick spray. First, place your cold stones into the oven. Then, turn your oven on 425 degrees and let it pre-heat. While the stones are in the oven, form your dough into pizza crust shapes on a well floured surface. After the stones have been in the oven for about 20 minutes, remove them from the oven and sprinkle them with ground cornmeal. Ground cornmeal will allow your pizza dough to move freely on the stone. Immediately after pulling the stones from the oven and sprinkling with cornmeal, lift your pizza dough from the counter and move it to the stones. Note: when making two pizzas I pull one stone out of the oven at a time so that the other stone will stay hot while I am situating the dough on the other stone. The heated stone will help the bottom of the pizza to set. Don't worry if, when you lift the dough from the counter, you get a couple of holes in the dough. Once you place it onto the stone, you can reshape it and fill in the holes.

Next, brush the dough with some olive oil and whatever spices you like (italian seasoning or basil). Top with sauce. Then, put whatever toppings on the pizza that you want. For this pizza, I just used freshly grated garlic, large pepperoni slices, and lots of cheese! Bake at 450 for 6-8 minutes.

If you can find this kind of chunky crushed tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano then you will have the easiest and most delicious pizza sauce! The only thing I did was add a couple of tablespoons of EVOO. One 28oz can is plenty for two pizzas.

Menu Planning Monday

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Sunday - Rachael Ray's Baked Shell Casserole
Monday - Hungry Girl's Crispy Chicken Sandwiches
(tastes like Chick-fil-a and is SO yummy!) and Rachael Ray's Crispy Oven Veggie Fries
Tuesday - Chicken Curry with rice (Recipe to come later this week)
Wednesday - leftover stuffed shell casserole
Thursday - Homemade Pizza (dough and sauce recipe to follow)
Friday - Greek Chicken with roasted potatoes and broccoli (Recipe to come later this week)
Saturday - Parmesan Crusted Chicken with green beans and mashed potatoes (Recipe to come later this week)


Pizza Dough
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp instant dry yeast
2 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup semolina flour
3 1/4 cups bread flour
2 tsp sea salt
To make the dough, add the lukewarm water to a large bowl, along with the sugar. Sprinkle the yeast over top and wait until it dissolves. Pour in the olive oil, sprinkle in about half of the semolina flour and half of the bread flour and stir to combine. Then add the remaining flours and the salt. Stir a few times to combine the ingredients.

Use your hands to bring the dough together, and then turn it out onto the counter. Knead the dough for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until it feels and looks smooth.

Portion the dough and form each portion into a round. Lightly oil a large bowl with olive oil. Coat the dough very lightly with olive oil and place into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it slow-rise overnight in the refrigerator (or at room temperature) until double in size.

Step 2: Shaping the Dough
1/4 cup coarse cornmeal (for sprinkling on pizza stone)
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (for brushing on dough)
Place the pizza stone into a cold oven then preheat the oven to 450º degrees Fahrenheit. Let the stone heat for at least 30 minutes before baking your first pizza.

Place a piece of room temperature dough onto a lightly floured counter. Press it flat into a round. Continue to press and turn the dough while stretching it. You can also hold the dough upright, rolling it between your fingers as you stretch it. The weight of the dough will help to stretch it.
Sprinkle the stone with cornmeal. Gently transfer the dough to the stone and proceed with your pizza recipe.

Two Pizza Sauces
1 can crushed tomato (15 ounces)
1 to 2 cloves Fresh garlic
1 tsp Salt
1 can whole tomatoes (15 ounces)
1 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
salt (to taste)
1 clove Fresh garlic
6 basil leafs
For a thicker sauce, with a more concentrated tomato flavor, use a can of quality crushed tomatoes (look at ingredients to make sure that the ONLY ingredient is tomatoes). Add a clove or two of thinly sliced garlic, a bit of salt and stir.

To make the second sauce, simply strain a can of whole tomatoes and crush them by hand. Add the olive oil, salt, garlic, and fresh basil and mix together.