50 States; 50 Meals: Utah

What we had for dinner:

Pastrami Burgers

This burger is said to be invented in Utah.

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound sliced pastrami
1/4 cup Russian dressing
4 slices Swiss cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Combine ground beef, garlic, salt and pepper. Form into four patties. Grill until almost done. Place 1/4 of the pastrami on each patty and top with cheese. Allow cheese to melt. Serve on kaiser rolls with 1 tablespoon/15 mL of Russian dressing.

Found on about.com

Funeral Potatoes

These potatoes are often served at dinners following a funeral.  This make a great potluck dish.  I have been making a similar dish called Harvest Potatoes for years.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
One 30-ounce bag frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, lightly thawed (I prefer cubed)
One 10.5-ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups shredded sharp yellow Cheddar
1 1/2 cups lightly crushed corn flake cereal

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat in a skillet. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring, until soft and translucent, about 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant and softened, an additional 2 minutes.

In a bowl, toss together the cooked onions and garlic, hash brown potatoes, condensed soup, sour cream, Parmesan, salt, pepper and 1 1/2 cups Cheddar. Spread the mixture in a 9-by-13 inch casserole dish. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Top the casserole with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese, corn flake cereal and melted butter.

Bake in the oven until it bubbles around the sides, about 1 hour. 

From Cooking Channel

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

I can't tell you why but they love their jello in Utah.  Utah consumes more jello than any other state.  So I choose to make my favorite jello dish.  

Ingredients
1   8-ounce can crushed pineapple
2 cup boiling water
2   10-ounce packages frozen strawberries
2   3-ounce packages strawberry gelatin dessert mix
1   8-ounce container Cool Whip
3/4 cup sugar
1   8-ounce package cream cheese
3 tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup melted butter
2 cup crushed pretzels

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
For the crust, mix the pretzels, butter, and 3 tablespoons of sugar.  Press this mixture into a 9x13-inch pan and bake for 7 minutes.  Set aside and allow to cool.
In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and 3/4 cup of sugar.  Fold in the Cool Whip, and spread over the cooled crust.  Refrigerate until well chilled.
In a small bowl, dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water, and allow to cool slightly.  Add the strawberries and pineapple, and pour over the cream cheese mixture.  Refrigerate until serving time.
To serve, cut slices and serve with a dollop of Cool Whip.

Recipe Courtesy of Paula Deen

Next State - Vermont

Meal Plan: August 24 - August 30

Well it's here... the first day of school and dance classes all on the same day.  Back to serious meal planning and making sure every meal fits the schedule.

Does anyone else go to the grocery store the day before school?  I learned way before I had children to stay away from the grocery store the day before school starts but couldn't avoid it today.  It's right up there with Thanksgiving and Christmas.  We usually shop on Saturday or Sunday so it wasn't foreign for me to be there.  Unlike the major holiday's it makes me wonder why it is so busy.  What have you been feeding your kids all summer?  After being there for two minutes I was yelled at while saying hello to a friend.  It was shortly after that I decided to hunker down, put a smile on my face and recited the mantra of "be the example".  The cereal aisle was too scary to stop but I got a minute of peace in the chip aisle.  It's a jungle out there.

Here's what we are having for dinner this week:

Sunday: State Dinner - Pepperoni Rolls and Salad

Monday: Cheeseburger Pie

One the of the girls favorite for the first day of school. 
Our good friend made this for us a few years ago and it instantly became my oldest daughters favorite.  She asks for it for every birthday.  When our friend made it she forgot the sour cream.  The first time I made it I followed the recipe but we all agreed we liked it better without it so that's how I have made it from now on.

Ingredients:

1-1.5 lbs ground beef
2 Pillsbury dough crescent roll tubes
1 pint sour cream 
1 small can of mushrooms (optional)
1/2 of an onion chopped
8-10 slices of Am. cheese 
Cooking Spray
1 Tbsp of oil

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 350/
In a frying pan, add oil and cook onions over medium heat until almost clear. Then add in ground beef (and mushrooms) and cook until beef is almost done. Drain as much as the liquid as possible. Spray the bottom of a 13x9 pan with cooking spray. Spread out both tubes of crescent rolls making the crust even, without holes along the bottom of the pan/baking dish. When beef mixture is done and drained, stir in the entire pint of sour cream and mix well. Place that mixture evenly on top of the uncooked crescent rolls. Place the American cheese slices over the top of the beef and sour cream mixture covering the top, and bake on 350 for about 20 minutes or until the bottom of the crust is light brown.
Serves 6-8 

Tuesday: Salsa Chicken Casserole

 











Recipe from Sweet Daily Blog

Wednesday:   Leftover Pepperoni Rolls

Thursday: Slow cooker Chicken and Noodles
Recipe from Going Jane

Friday: Mom and Daughter Dinner  

Saturday: Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches

Recipe from The Little Kitchen

50 States; 50 Meals: Texas

What we had for dinner:

 

King Ranch Chicken

King Ranch of South Texas is one of the largest ranches in the world.  The story behind this dish is that a ranch hand created the casserole to feed hundreds of ranch workers.  It donned on me that my family has been making this casserole since I was in high school we just didn't know what it was called.  We always called it the Mexican casserole with the torn corn tortillas.  This recipe is so good that my mom would always send in leftovers to my boss. Mostly because he demanded it. It is listed on My Recipes website as their most popular casserole. 

Here is a lightened version by Southern Living.

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
Vegetable cooking spray
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breasts
1 (10-ounce) can fat-free cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 (10-ounce) can fat-free cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 (10-ounce) can diced tomato and green chiles
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 (8-ounce) block reduced-fat Cheddar cheese, shredded (Don't buy pre-shredded reduced-fat cheese.  It doesn't melt as well)

Directions

Sauté onion and bell pepper in a large skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender.
Stir in chicken and next 6 ingredients; remove from heat.
Tear tortillas into 1-inch pieces; layer one-third tortilla pieces in bottom of a 13- x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with one-third chicken mixture and one-third cheese. Repeat layers twice.
Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes or until bubbly.
Note: Freeze casserole up to 1 month, if desired. Thaw in refrigerator overnight, and bake as directed.

Texas Sheet Cake

This cake is so delicious.  I wasn't allowed to take the left-overs to work good.  I made Cooking Light's recipe.  We certainly didn't feel like we were eating a "light" recipe.  It was pretty easy to make too for being a non-baker. 

Ingredients

Cooking spray
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 ounces)
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, divided
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract, divided
2 large eggs
6 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup fat-free milk
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Directions
Preheat oven to 375°.
Coat a 13 x 9-inch pan with cooking spray, and dust with 2 teaspoons flour. Set aside.
Lightly spoon 2 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 2 cups flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Combine 3/4 cup water, 1/2 cup butter, and 1/4 cup cocoa in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Add to flour mixture. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until well blended. Add buttermilk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and eggs; beat well. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 375° for 22 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack.
Combine 6 tablespoons butter, fat-free milk, and remaining 1/4 cup cocoa in a saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Gradually stir in powdered sugar and remaining 2 teaspoons vanilla. Spread over hot cake. Sprinkle cake with pecans. Cool completely on wire rack.

You can also bake the cake in a 15 x 10-inch jellyroll pan at 375° for 17 minutes.

Next State: Utah

 

Family Dinner Meal Plan: August 17 - August 23

My mom is in town to help us with our day care needs.  School starts in one week and camps ended last week.  Amazingly our calendar is pretty clear this week.  Maybe I shouldn't put that out there.  Looking forward to spending the week with the girls before they head back to school.  They are getting excited.  They organized their backpacks today!

Sunday: Leftover tailgate Fried Chicken with Doctored Store Bought Mashed Potato and Corn on the grill.

Monday: State Dinner - Cedar Plank Salmon, Asparagus and Rice Pilaf

Tuesday: Black Bean and Beef Taco Tuesday 

Adapted from Dine and Dish Walking Tacos.
1 pound lean ground beef, crumbled, browned and fat drained
1 package taco seasoning
3 Tbs water
1 can Black Beans, drained

With your browned grown beef still in the skillet, add the Bush’s black beans, 3 Tbs of water and your taco seasoning. Heat through.

Wednesday: French Toast and Sausage

Thursday: Beer can chicken

Friday: Vegetable Lo Mein
Recipe from Wegmans

You can add teriyaki chicken too.

 

Ingredients 

1 pkg (21.15 oz) Asian Classics Lo Mein Noodles (Frozen Foods), prepared per pkg directions

2 Tbsp Wegmans Vegetable Oil
1 small onion, peeled, thinly sliced
1 pkg (12 oz) Food You Feel Good About Cleaned & Cut Asian Slaw
1/2 cup Asian Classics Stir-Fry Sauce (International Foods)

Directions

1. Drizzle oil around sides of stir-fry pan; tilt pan to distribute evenly. Heat oil in pan on HIGH until oil faintly smokes. (If oil smokes too much, pan is too hot.)
    
2. Add onion. Stir and toss, 2-3 min, until onions are soft. Add slaw; stir and toss 2 min. Add noodles and stir-fry sauce. Stir briefly, 1-2 min, to heat through.

Saturday:  Celebrating a good friend's engagement! I was planning on bringing a dish known as Funeral Potatoes.  Perhaps that is a bad idea.  Though, I also know this recipe as Harvest Potatoes.  That sounds a lot better, right?!

50 States; 50 Meals: Tennessee

I don't know about anyone else but I have anxiously been waiting for this state.

What we had for dinner:

Memphis Ribs

I'm sure there are many rib enthusiasts that will say were prepared these ribs incorrectly but they were fall off the bone delicious.  We used Wegmans' Braised Barbecue recipe where the ribs are grilled and then braised in a beer and barbeque sauce liquid.  Yep, I said beer.  Have your attention now?

We had Memphis style baked beans and squash casserole, a popular Tennessee dish, on the side.

Braised Barbecue Ribs

Ingredients 

1 rack Wegmans Center Cut Pork Spareribs (about 3 lbs), halved
1 Tbsp Wegmans BBQ Seasoning Shak'r (I used McCormick Pork Rub)
1 bottle (19 oz) Wegmans Memphis-Style BBQ Sauce
1 bottle (12 oz) lager-style beer

Directions

Preheat grill on HIGH 10 min.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Clean grill with wire brush. Using soft cloth, coat grill grate lightly with vegetable oil.
Season both sides of ribs with BBQ seasoning. Sear on grill 3-4 min per side; do not cook through. Transfer ribs to braising pan.
Whisk BBQ sauce and beer together in bowl until well-blended; pour over ribs in pan. Cover pan; place in oven.
Bake 2 1/2-3 hours. Carefully remove lid; bake 10 additional min.

 

 

Squash Casserole
I got this recipe from my SIL

Ingredients
2 pounds zucchini or squash or a combination
1 small sweet onion, chopped (1/4 cup)
1 (10 3/4-oz.) can cream of chicken soup
1 (8-oz.) container sour cream
1 cup grated carrots
1 (8-oz.) package herb-seasoned stuffing  (Pepperidge Farm)
1/2 cup butter, melted
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°. Cut squash into 1/4-inch-thick slices; place in a Dutch oven. Add chopped onion, 2 tsp. salt, and water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook 5 minutes; drain well.
Stir grated carrots, cream of chicken soup and sour cream in a large bowl; fold in squash mixture. Stir together stuffing and 1/2 cup melted butter, and spoon half of stuffing mixture in bottom of a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Spoon squash mixture over stuffing mixture, and top with remaining stuffing mixture.
Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown, shielding with aluminum foil after 20 to 25 minutes to prevent excessive browning, if necessary. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.


Next State: Texas

Family Dinner Meal Plan: August 10 - August 16

With school on its way our busy schedule will be returning as well.  This year I plan on making freezer meals this year to take some stress out of dinner time.  I'm test driving a few recipes this week.

Here's what we are having for dinner this week:

Sunday: Frozen Pizza 
               Prepare Make-Ahead Shredded Chicken

Monday:  Pulled Chicken Sandwiches and Cole Slaw
Two bags of Make-Ahead Shredded Chicken for 4 Servings.  Reheat the chicken in your favorite bottle of BBQ sauce.  

Tuesday: Hot Dogs, Sausages and Baked Beans


Wednesday: Baked Bean Quesadillas

Thursday: Date Night during Dance Rehearsal
                   Chicken Nuggets and Mac and Cheese Packed Dinner

Friday: Baked Ziti (1 for dinner; 1 to freeze)
Quick Four Cheese Baked Ziti recipe

Saturday: Tailgating at Jimmy Buffet

50 States; 50 Meals: South Dakota

What we had for dinner:

Chislic

"South Dakota Cubed Meat" is a popular bar food in South Dakota.  It is skewered deep fried red meat usually lamb served with saltines.  Worried what they would think, we told the kids we were having steak.  I'm not sure if it was because the meat was on small skewers but they both housed it, which is a big deal for my youngest.  They have recently asked to have it again. 

Recipe from Cooking Channel.com


Ingredients
1 pound boneless lamb leg, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Vegetable oil, for frying
Serving suggestions: garlic salt, hot sauce and saltine crackers

Special equipment: Toothpicks, for serving

Directions
Toss together the lamb cubes, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper in a bowl. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Heat 2 inches of oil in a Dutch oven to 375 degrees F. Fry the marinated lamb cubes in batches to avoid overcrowding the oil. Cook to medium-rare, about 1 minute. The meat will have a dark brown crust and will be tender to the touch. Drain on a paper-towel-lined plate. Skewer the lamb cubes with toothpicks and serve with garlic salt, hot sauce and saltine crackers on the side. 

Side Dishes

Mushroom Rice - Recipe by Tickled Red
Squash with Roasted Walnuts and Goat Cheese

We had another Kuchen (same as North Dakota) for dessert.

Next State: Tennessee

Family Dinner Meal Plan: August 3 - August 9

Here's what we are having for dinner this week:

Sunday: Chicken Piccata with Pasta

Chicken Piccata Recipe: Giada De Laurentiis

Monday:  Tuna Melts on English Muffins

1. Brown muffins in toaster or broiler oven.
2. Make your Tuna Salad
3. Top each muffin with tuna with cheese. I use slices of cheddar or muenster. 
4. Broil 5 inches from heat until cheese melts and is a little bown.

Tuesday: Virginia State Dinner - Ham Biscuits and Quiche


Wednesday: Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas - For me and the girls

                     Smithfield Ham and Peanut Spread - For my husband to take to his Dad's Group
Enchiladas Recipe:  My Recipes.com
Spread recipe: The Peanut Shop of Williamsburg

Thursday: Frozen Pizzas

Friday: Fried Rice 
Recipe: Family Dinner Recipe

Saturday: Dinner with Friends.