Food for the Weekend

Friday, my normal post-the-food-day, just seemed to slip away.  A trip up to see the Girlie, and a stop at the Scout Shop to outfit the 7 y.o. in Boy Scout gear, was enough to get me home in time to start cooking for the evening meal with In-Laws, plus three.

If you're looking for snacks or meals for your menu that gives you food to feed your group and time to feed your creative soul, check out this week's recipes.

Angel Food Cake intimidates me, in much the same way homemade pie crust does.  I have one Angel Food recipe that I've done with success; it's the only one I've tried.  The intimidation factor on that one goes way down because it's baked in a loaf pan. However, boy #2, my usual stack-of-donuts-for-his-birthday-cake boy, decided he'd like to have Angel Food cake . . . duh-duh-dunnnn.  So, I pulled on my big girl pants apron, grabbed this Heavenly Angel Food Cake recipe and baked it up the night before the party in case it totally flopped and I would need to go to Plan B.  Turns out, it turned out great!  The hardest part, besides finding something to do with the 10 egg yolks, was finding a two-piece tube pan.  It was very light and I loved the almond flavor.  Boy #3 loves brownies, so we opted for this Chocolate Sheet Cake for him.  I've made it several times before and it's rich, chocolaty and perfect, every time.

I could probably eat Mexican food several times a week, if you let me.  When I found this Chile Colorado Burritos recipe, it was pinned immediately, but it quickly fell to the bottom of the board.  I rediscovered it a couple weeks ago and added it to my menu.  I opted to cook the meat up the day before.  I didn't shred the meat when I stored it because I knew I'd need the sauce; though I could have made an additional batch to top them off.  I also added cheese to the inside of the burritos and chose to do them all in a pan, instead of individually.  I used Monterrey Jack because it's what I had, but cheddar would have been a the choice, the sharper the better.  I used the Enchilada Sauce from the Chicken Pasta (below.)  The left over meat works great on nachos the next day.  

When hubby went out to visit his brother in Kansas, he came home with Acorn Squash from his brother's garden (they are on my list of starters for next year's garden) and I knew that I'd make Sausage-Stuff Acorn Squash.  It's a super simple, done in the microwave recipe.  Even my kids will eat this one; the cheddar I top them with helps that along.  I use my favorite bulk breakfast sausage, but a Sweet Italian sausage would be good, or go for spicy with Chorizo.  

It's still more summer than fall here.  Temps are still high, but my mouth is looking for comfort food.  Chicken Enchilada Pasta was a nice compromise - comfort food without heating the kitchen unbearably.  I used the Enchilada Sauce link with this recipe for this recipe and for the Colorado Burritos (above.)  I liked the flavor, it was filling and it was fast, but, for us, I felt like it needed a little more.  I liked the sliced chicken breast, but I think I'd like shredded; it distribute better.  Then maybe topped with chopped tomatoes, or mix in some black beans and corn.  I also forgot to taste and adjust the salt before serving.  I didn't serve it with anything, but corn muffins or cheddar  biscuits would be good. 

I pinned these Dark Chocolate and Cherry Granola Bars because they had cherries - my favorite.  I made them for the Girlie's care package.  They were really easy to pull together, basically just dump it all, mix and bake.  When I was pulling it together I thought the 2 tablespoons of cinnamon sounded like a lot, and for me, it was.  Doing 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp almond extract would  have upped the cherry flavor.  It also mixed up pretty thin (I used the applesauce option.)  I've learned when you can smell your dessert you should check it, and with 10 minutes left to go, I pulled them out.  They are very, very soft.  I don't know if that's because they needed 10 more minutes (which would have given me over-done bars) or what.  The photos on the post don't lead me to think this is what they should be like.  I have plenty of other bar recipes to try, plus ones I've done that I can alter to include cherries and dark chocolate (because I liked that), so I deleted the pin.

Sometimes I just need simple, and these Chicken Salad Bacon Lettuce Wraps fit that bill.  The recipe calls for an entire rotisserie chicken.  I didn't need that much salad, so I used 4 1/2 cups of my freezer stash (I chop and portion out, in two cup measures, a rotisserie chicken) but didn't alter the onions or celery amounts.  I liked food processing the onion and celery, though I do like the chunks of it, my family gets distracted by it.  I chose to use tortillas (we use the raw ones from Costco.) . The salad is good.  Creamy.  It makes a good snack/appetizer with saltines.

Study snacks for Girlie means trying Apple Pie Muddy Buddies.  I, again, used Quaker Oat Squares instead of the Chex.  I don't think I missed anything not using the cinnamon flavored cereal.  There isn't an actual apple flavor, so it should be called Apple Pie Spiced, but you could toss in dried apple chunks and it would be awesome.

More college-bound snacks.  This Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Granola is for her morning eating.  I liked it because it was baked, and so it stayed chunky so you could just eat it straight.  It was peanutty enough.  It was still kinda chewy at 15 minutes and maybe could have used the additional five minutes to get a little more crunch.  It had good flavor and I'll make a batch for those of us still at home.

Hubby wanted to grill something, so Grilled Basil Chicken and Tomatoes made it to the menu.  The marinade had great balsamic flavor.  The sauce was just the touch of fresh basil and vinegar.  It would be a good sauce recipe to use my garden-frozen tomatoes during the winter.  I didn't do the grilled tomatoes to go with it, but if I'd thought of it would have just done sliced with salt and pepper.

I needed dessert for In-Law + three night, but didn't feel like running to the store for anything.  Everything I was thinking of needed more than the two eggs I had left.  I turned to looking for an egg-less peach cobbler when I happened upon this White Texas Sheet Cake in one of my Gooseberry Patch cookbooks.  I looked for Gooseberry's pin, but couldn't find one.  This pin, however, is the identical recipe.  It was amazing!  Super moist.  Great almond flavor, which if it's not your thing, sub in vanilla.  I could finish the pan by myself and with hubby heading out of town on business, I just might.

Happy Saturday,