Sunday: Copycat of Macaroni Grill's Penne Rustica.
This was actually a leftover makeover, but not from Thanksgiving. We went out last Wednesday night for a belated birthday dinner for Shane. Without getting into much detail, we were all disappointed with our meals from a well-known chain steak house. Kat ordered a Parmesan-crusted chicken dish, but brought most of it home as leftovers, which eventually found their way into this dinner.
I made a few changes to the recipe. I subbed in a cup of turkey stock for a cup of the cream (and used half-and-half instead of cream to begin with), I added quite a bit more garlic, and omitted the shrimp since we didn't have any in the freezer. This turned out to be a nice baked pasta dish and quite the improvement over the original chicken dish from the restaurant. We served it with a green salad and bacon-cheddar scones.
Monday: Venison chili with corn chips, sour cream and shredded cheddar; peanut butter sandwiches; celery/carrot sticks.
I call this one of my school lunch dinners, because we always had peanut butter sandwiches and celery/carrot sticks at school whenever we had chili. I need to get a chili recipe posted on the blog. My chili used to be ultra-simple: ground meat, tomato soup, packaged chili seasoning, chili beans. Lately, though, I've been using tomato sauce and pinto beans grown and canned from our garden, as well as chili seasoning I put together myself. I need to get those changes on paper -- or on blog, as it were.
Tuesday: Pork Chops with Onion-Mushroom Gravy
Here's another recipe that used both canned soup and dry soup mix, but that I've changed to include homemade versions instead. I should probably get those changes recorded, too. This dish will be served with potatoes and Brussels sprouts, but I haven't yet decided on the recipes for those.
Wednesday: Texas Chili Cheese Bake
This is a fun dish using leftover chili layered over toast and shredded cheese, then broiled quickly to heat it through. We'll probably have leftover Brussels sprouts and some home-canned peaches or apples to go with it.
Thursday: Chinese Steamed Pork Dumplings, Egg Drop Soup, Garlic Green Beans, Almond Cookies
I'll be trying my hand at Chinese steamed dumplings. If they turn out alright, I'll post the recipe.
Friday: Kansas City Steak Soup with Venison, Cornbread, Home-canned Fruit
This is a family favorite but I'm trying something new this time: I'm going to make a HUGE batch and pressure can it. I've done a lot of pressure canning this year (pinto beans, green beans, chicken stock, even fish), but it will be my first time canning something like this with so many ingredients. I can't wait to try it!
Saturday: C.O.R.N. (Clean Out Refrigerator Night)
In other words, I'm taking a night off!
