Supper Menu Planning

How do you do it? I love cooking. Seriously I do. I love to bake. I love that my family appreciates a home-made meal, even if it is just some casserole I threw together. I collect cookbooks, but the problem is I *rarely* use them. In may I have a challenge I will post to get others using cookbooks along with me. Well, that or recipes they find online or elsewhere. Anyhow, I am looking for a new way to fashion my weekly menu. So far, it looks like this:

Sunday: Comfort Food

Monday: Soup/Sandwich/Salad

Tuesday: Italian

Wednesday: Breakfast for Supper

Thursday: Mexican

Friday: ???

Saturday: ???

Now, we do not do meatless. I have tried. It just doesn't fly around here. Also, we don't do seafood/fish. Maybe I should add an oriental night? We all like that. I like "southern" food too, but isn't that the same as comfort food? LOL

I'll come back and update, but I'd really like to hear from y'all. Inspire me. Come on.

New Year, New Life

I am one of "those" people who thrives on new starts. What better time for a new start than a new year, right? I am also one who never really does the resolution thing. However, I do have one this year. What is that? To get healthier. This means I signed back up for weight watchers, and I will be exercising three days a week. A great start a do believe. My goal is to have 52 weeks where I do not go off of my eating plan at all.

I have also challenged myself to complete some other tasks on a daily or weekly basis. These are listed as follows:

• Do a 365 days of pictures project and post them here on my blog
• Read at least one book a week
• Write a letter or note by hand every day
• Try a new recipe at least once a week (another tool getting to my healthy goal)
• Do one load of laundry a day so I never get behind
• Read some of the Bible daily...now, I almost signed up for the "read the Bible in 90 days" again, but chose to do the "Read the Bible in a Year instead". Much more realistic for me at this point.

This is it. This is all. So far, all I need to do is catch up on my handwritten notes. I am one day behind as I was driving all day yesterday. I will allow myself the chance to do two days in one if I am out of service one day for one reason or another.

I turn 35 in one month. I have vowed that year #35 will be the best yet, a new start to a better me.

PIoneer Woman's Cinnamon rolls, my attempt and tweaks

I can not take any credit for this dish of pure heaven. No, I cannot. I got it from The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drumond. You can find a much more entertaining and thorough walk through of this here, on her site.

Okay. You're still with me? Really, Ree is a lot funnier, but okay...if you insist.

Step one...(can you see the love that is baked in right from the beginning?)

Step two...after one hour added yeast

then flour and stirred it all together

Let rise for an hour...and added the other ingredients

Took half of dough and put it in my floured counter

rolled it out

added butter (yum!)

and sugar

and cinnamon

rolled, and made a MAJOR mess...then cut

Place in pans...some pretty

some not so pretty

But enough to share

Then I made the icing

and I drenched them like she said. At first, it looked like too much. But then...

it began to soak in

and in the end, they looked (and tasted) amazing!

Pulled Pork

This is blog one of three today...this is about my pulled pork, which is TO DIE FOR YUMMY!!!

Last night I placed a pork roast (shoulder) in my crock pot. I sliced two onions and layered the slices of one on bottom, placed roast, and another layer of onions on top. I then emptied a packet of italian dressing (dry) on the top, and poured one can of giner ale on that. I let it cook on low for 12.5 hours. I then drained the liquid reserving the onions and meat. I let it sit in the colander in the sink to cool. This is what it looked like at that point.

After this, I pulled it apart and threw it all back in the crock pot.

I then added two bottles of yummy BBQ sauce

But, it was still dry. After burning some in my crock pot last week, I was NOT risking that again, so I added a can of ginger ale.

I then cooked it on low for 4 hours. The recipe called for 6, but at 4 it was evident it had had enough, and further cooking would leave me with a nasty mess like the last time. (I didn't even know you could scorch food on low in a crock pot...apparently you can!)