Week of December 5 - December 11

I'm kinda mixing up the length of my weeks, aren't I?  It just depends on when I get a chance to sit down and put the menus and recipes together.  I'm doing this on Sunday (12/12) morning, which seems to be working out to be the best time.

I forgot to mention that December 4 was my sister's birthday - Happy Birthday, Allison!

Clockwise, Allison (with glasses), husband Doug, son in law Chance and daughter Cara

So, going back to last Sunday (12/5), I intended to fix the slow cooker barbeque that our nephew, Todd, prepared for us over Thanksgiving in BR, but got busy that morning and didn't get it started in time.  So, Memphis Pizza Cafe to the rescue!

On Monday I finally fixed the barbeque.  Easy cheesy - well, not cheesy, but you get my point.  I bought Schnuck's creamy coleslaw from their deli and also gussied up some canned beans to go with it.  It was gooood!

Tuesday night I fixed this Stuffed Pepper Casserole from a Schnuck's recipe.  Frankly, I've been shocked to find that I like a lot of their recipes!  They have a Schnuck's Cooks kiosk set up in the store I usually go to (on Truse) and you can taste the recipe of the week there.  And I also want to put a little plug in for that store.  The employees there are so nice.  They always say hello and ask if they can help you find something.  Even the manager has walked aisles with me.  And - this is big, iPhone users - Schnuck's has an app called "Aisle411" that you can use to find things in the store, scan barcodes, get coupons, and more!  I don't know if Memphis has it yet, but I read about it on their website when I copied the casserole recipe.  I didn't spend a lot of time on the website, but it looked like it had good stuff.  If you're a Schnuck's customer, you should check it out.

On Wednesday Walter had a dinner meeting so I just had the leftover casserole.  It was better the second night.  Oh, remember my post about cleaning up around the Poplar-White Station Library?  I had contacted the library director on Nov. 19 about the sad state of the trash and weeds there.  Well, Ms. McCloy emailed me within a couple of days and told me that the district director would be contacting me.  So Wednesday I met with Ms. Norvel Adams-Walker and the branch manager and we discussed ways to improve the curb appeal of this branch.  You know, it's the same old story, not enough people and not enough money.  But we came up with a plan to get started.  Hopefully, you'll see some improvement there soon.  I was very gratified to have such a quick response and these ladies are genuinely interested in doing a good job with the limited resources they have.

Thursday night I went to a Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting at the main library to help give input for the Imagine 2040 transportation plan.  This evening was one of a series of public meetings hosted by the MPO and Livable Memphis.  I was thrilled to see the turnout, mostly young people who are intensely interested in improving Memphis.  Gives me great hope.  Walter says we're wasting our time because the MPO will do what it's always done, but he's so cynical.  The MPO staffer who facilitated our small group was definitely on board with our ideas and helped us articulate them.  He said that they had been hearing the same things at every public meeting:  less sprawl, take care of what we've got, better public transit, better walk/bike opportunities, more greenways.  So we'll see.  But if you don't ask, you'll never get, right?

Ok, back to food.  Thursday morning I made this Chipotle Chicken and Tomato Soup that I've made many times since the recipe was in Cooking Light in 2006.  Walter was able to just warm it up when he got home.  He also made a grilled cheese sandwich, judging by the dirty dishes...

A big day for us on Friday.  We sold Chase the house that he's been living in while he went to college.  He finally graduated, has a great job that he loves, and he's ready to be a real grownup!  Congratulations, Chase!

Friday night we went to the Half Shell and ran into Barney and Becky, so we sat together and visited.  Barney's daughter, Ellie, is getting married next Saturday night, so this is a busy and happy time for them.

Saturday morning I had another episode of some muscle spasms in my back, so Walter helped me go to the grocery store, then he headed off to Dallas to visit his Aunt Nell.  I just scrounged around for supper, cause I wasn't feeling too hot.  Took a muscle relaxant and went to bed at 7:15!  As I write this on Sunday morning, I'm feeling ok, but the spasms are still there.  Very annoying.

Ok, everyone, we're on the countdown to Christmas!  Are you about ready?

Stuffed Pepper Casserole

Stuffed Pepper Casserole
Prep: 15 minutes • Bake: 25 minutes • Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 pound Meat Masters 90% extra lean ground beef
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 green, red and/or yellow bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 small onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 package (8.5 ounces) precooked whole grain Santa Fe rice (I couldn't find this at my Schnuck's, but I found some pre-cooked brown rise in a two-cup package.)
1 jar (26 ounces) Culinaria tomato basil pasta sauce
1/2 teaspoon Culinaria Italian seasoning
1 cup Kraft finely shredded Italian five cheese blend, divided
Crushed red pepper, to taste (I added this.)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. In large skillet, cook ground beef, garlic, bell pepper and onion over medium-high heat until beef browns and onion is tender, breaking up meat with side of spoon. Massage bag of rice to help separate grains. Stir in rice, pasta sauce, Italian seasoning and 1/2 cup cheese.

Transfer beef mixture to 9 x 9-inch or 2-quart glass or ceramic baking dish; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake 25 minutes or until top is lightly browned and sauce bubbles around side of pan.

Each Serving: about 380 calories, 17 g total fat (8 g saturated), 65 mg cholesterol, 630 mg sodium, 34 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 23 g protein

Emeril's Breakfast Casserole

Breakfast Casserole

Recipe Courtesy of Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients

6 eggs

1 cup half and half

2 tablespoons green onions, chopped

Salt and pepper

Butter to grease pan

6 slices of Texas Toast (thick cut, crusty white bread)

1 pound spicy pork sausage, cooked and drained of fat

1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Directions

In a small bowl, beat the eggs until they loosen up. Add the half and half, and the green onions. Mix well, highly season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Butter a 12 by 10-inch baking pan. Line the pan with the bread, cutting and rearranging, if needed. Sprinkle the bread with the cooked sausage and cheese. Pour the egg mixture over the entire pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook covered for 25 to 30 minutes or until the egg mixture is set.

I doubled this recipe and used a 11x18” casserole dish.  It still took 6 slices of bread and it took about 50 minutes to cook.

Printed from FoodNetwork.com on Tue Nov 30 2010

© 2010 Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

Sweet Potato Souffle

Sweet Potato Souffle

Ingredients

2 cups cooked sweet potatoes

¾ stick butter, melted

½ t cinnamon

½ t nutmeg

2 eggs, beaten

½ cup milk

1 ¼ cup sugar

Instructions

Mix all ingredients and pour into a buttered casserole dish.  Bate at 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through.  Proceed with topping:

Topping

¾ cup crushed corn flakes

½ cup nuts

1/3 cup brown sugar

¾ stick butter, melted

Mix and spread over potatoes in casserole.  Bake another 10 minutes.

Squash & Cheese Casserole

Squash & Cheese Casserole

Ingredients

1-2 lbs summer squash

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

1 Tb sugar

2 eggs, beaten

3 Tb butter

1 t sage

Salt & pepper to taste

Paprika

Instructions

Cook squash & onion in a small amount of water until tender.  Drain well.  Mix other ingredients except half of cheese and paprika.  Pour into a buttered casserole dish.  Place remaining cheese on top, sprinkle with paprika.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through.