Will I ever cook again?

Well, I'm cooking but when will I have time to make anything new? Can I even continue to get dinner on the table everynight? Last night I was supposed to do my shopping list and plan my menu and I didn't work on it at all.

Monday we had meatballs that I made on Sunday night, with pasta and jarred sauce, and salad. Tuesday we had BBQ chicken the I cooked the night before, with a brown rice pilaf made with rice I had cooked last week and froze, and salad. Last night we had grilled ham slices and potatoes au gratin (which I made the night before - freestyled, using unpeeled potatoes - who has time to peel potatoes??) and canned green beans (my son's favorite). Tonight will be burgers and frozen french fries and salad. Friday will be pizza and subs from the local pizzaria I think.

I'm trying to think of some recipes I've already made that can be prepared ahead of time.

Maybe Salisbury Steak Deluxe:

Or Everyone's Favorite Lasagna:



Or Picadillo a la Marlen:

Or Sweet-Sour Meatballs (I actually prefer these made ahead of time):

Or Jumbo Stuffed Shells:



Or Porcupines:

I'm actually feeling a little better now. With some planning I can continue to keep getting dinner on the table. The challenge will be new recipes but if I devote some time to finding them on the weekends, I should be okay. Gone are the days when I can do my menu and shopping list mid-week.

Question of the Day: Any cook-ahead entrees you can suggest (especially something that freezes well)?

Pot roast in the middle of the week!--Pot Roast with Vegetables

Pot Roast with Vegetables
Our Favorite Meats Favorites From Home Economics Teachers Copyright MCMLXVI

1 4-lb chuck roast
Flour
1 c. water or tomato juice I used tomato juice
Salt and pepper
6 to 8 medium potatoes, cut into halves
4 carrots, cut into halves I used baby cut carrots

Trim off portion of suet; dice. Fry in electric skillet or fry pan. (I just used some canola oil.) Roll meat in flour; brown in suet drippings. Add water or tomato juice and 1 ½ teaspoons salt and pepper. Simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours. Add potatoes and carrots; sprinkle with a small amount of salt and pepper. Cook for 30 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender.

Yield: 6 servings.
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I picked up this good looking 'natural' pot roast, marked down. Since it was my last week before going back to work, and I had time to cook a pot roast, I did - even though it was about 90 degrees that day.

Pot roast is a very nostalgic taste for me. It was a common Sunday dinner when I was growing up. It still is a common Sunday dinner, at my ILs, but we haven't been making it to dinner over there as often so I was missing it. It hit the spot, although I think next time I'll make all carrots. Pot roasted potatoes really don't do anything for me. I love carrots cooked with pot roast. It's my favorite way to eat carrots.

Yesterday I caught a break. I had to leave work early to get my car inspected (Sunday I noticed it expired at the end of August!) so I ended up home a little earlier and it gave me some time to catch up around the house. I had cooked some bbq chicken the night before that just needed to be heated up. I had precooked some brown rice and stuck it in the freezer last week. I made a little pilaf out of that. Add salad, and we had dinner. The only way I'm going to keep getting dinner on the table is by preparing some of it ahead of time but I don't have much time to spare anywhere in my schedule right now. I'm going to have to try to do more on the weekend.

Question of the Day: What vegetables do you like cooked with pot roast?

Wiped Out

I did have a recipe to post today but I was wiped out last night. I completely forgot about blogging. Day one back at work was exhausting - not the work but the transporting of two children and all of our gear. My husband actually got home from work before I did. I have to work a longer day since I take two breaks to pump milk.

It will get better. I hope so or we'll end up having sandwiches for dinner everynight.

Since I don't have a recipe, here's something even better:

Worth waiting for--Mountain Dew Apple Cobbler

Mountain Dew Apple Cobbler
Very Scrumptious Cuisine Vandenberg Spouses Club Copyright 2007

2 cans crescent rolls
2 Granny Smith apples
1 stick real butter
1 ½ c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 (12-oz) can Mountain Dew

Cut apples into eighths. Separate crescent rolls into triangles and roll one wedge of apple starting at the fat end of the dough and rolling to the narrow end. (I think I rolled mine wrong but it doesn't really matter.) Place in a 13x9-inch lightly greased pan. Melt butter, sugar and cinnamon in microwave, just until butter is melted. Pour over apples. (My mixture wasn't really pourable - more like spreadable). Pour one can of Mountain Dew over all. DO NOT STIR! Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Really good with vanilla ice cream.
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I'm not sure if I did this right. I rolled my apples wrong and poured the Mountain Dew around the dumplings instead of over the dumplings. I ended up with an uneven sugary crust on top but it didn't ruin it. I've been waiting forever to make this recipe and it was everything I had hoped for. It was so good. Dough - good. Apples - good. Sweet syrup - good. It is rather sweet but the tart apples helped balance everything out.

I've seen this recipe made with 2 sticks of butter but one was plenty. You can use any lemon-lime type soda and you can use peaches instead of apples.

Well, my maternity leave is over and I'm behind on the archives. I haven't added one recipe to the archives the entire time I was on leave. I'll catch up eventually.

Oh wow. Today is my 3 year bloggiversary! I can't believe it's been 3 years. Pop in and say hi, even if you're a lurker.

My last week of maternity leave

Well, my 'vacation' is over. No, it didn't feel like a vacation. Dan is a very good baby but between him and Nick, pumping milk, driving Nick downtown for school 3 days a week, working out and my chores, there just wasn't as much time for cooking as I had hoped there would be on my leave.

I made a few more repeats lately:

Banana Cake. One of the most popular recipes on the internet and rightly so. I made this for an annual cookout at my in-laws. It's requested every year and raved over.




Glazed Chocolate Chip Brownies. I won't be surprised if these are requested next year at that same cookout. They were a big hit.



Cheeseburger Macaroni. That's an old stand-by around here now.




Multigrain Snickerdoodles. I didn't want to make those oatmeal cookies again (well, really I did but I thought it was time for something different).



That's about all I can remember right now. I have other things I meant to catch up on here over the weekend but I never found the time.