Waffles

I used to be an Eggo kind of gal.  In my head, making waffles was just too hard, eventhough I had a waffle iron (a wedding gift, circa 1995) hiding in a cabinet somewhere.   As I began to embrace the ideas that home made anything was better and cheaper I hunted down and wiped the dust off that old waffle iron.  I turned to my trusty, never let me down Southern Living Ultimate Cookbook and made my first batch of waffles.  I haven't looked at an Eggo box since.  These are delish and so easy. 

 

 

Ultimate Waffles

adapted from Southern Living Ultimate Cookbook

 

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 c whole wheat flour

1 T plus 1 t baking powder

3/4 t salt

1 1/2 T sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

2 1/2 c milk

3/4 c vegetable oil

2 t vanilla

 

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl.

 

Combine wet ingredients.  Add to flour mixture, stirring with a wire whisk just until dry ingredients are moistened.

 

Oil and pre-heat waffle iron.  Cook 1/2 c waffle mixture in waffle iron until golden.  Serve warm.

 

Makes between 16 - 22 waffles depending on the size of your waffle iron.

 

 

Meal Plan Monday- August 27

We changed up some of our menu items last week, mostly due to the fact I forgot to thaw things out.  To remedy this issue, I now take everything out of the freezer on Sunday and put it in the refrigerator to thaw.   This week we are dipping into my freezer stash not only for dinners, but my sister's family and my brother are coming for the Labor Day weekend.  When I cooked my HUGE freezer session in July, I planned several items that would make this weekend easy.

Sunday - Hamburgers, Mac and Cheese
Monday - Tacos, Salad
Tuesday - Cheddar Cracker Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Peas
Wednesday - Honey Sesame Chicken, Rice, Fruit
Thursday - High School Open House - kids with Nanny
Friday - Nanny's treat -- Subway
Saturday - Party -- Buffalo Chicken Sliders, ,Stuffed Banana Peppers, Baja Spinach Dip
Sunday - Lemon Pepper Grilled Chicken, Grilled Italian Sausages, Baked Beans, Hashbrown Casserole, Texas Salad

Company Extras - Apple French Toast, Chocolate Chip Cookies


For more great menu ideas, visit I'm an Organized Junkie.

Meal Plan Monday - August 20

Last week was our first full week of school and I really appreciated having a menu plan and a stocked freezer. 

Our favorites last week were Sweet Corn Risotto and Grilled Dijon Chicken Sandwiches.  I added sauteed shrimp to the risotto and it was a perfect one dish meal.  To top the dijon chicken I added chopped bacon and jalapenos to Ken's ranch dressing.  It was the perfect final touch.  The only glitch last week was I thought I had skirt steak in the freezer and didn't, so we had grilled hamburgers instead.

Sunday - Skirt Steak (Alton Brown recipe), Mashed Potatoes, Asparagus
Monday - Grilled Lemon Pepper Chicken Salads
Tuesday -  Grilled Italian Sausage, Mac and Cheese, Green Beans
Wednesday - *Honey Sesame Chicken, Rice, Salad
Thursday - Tacos, Layered Salad
Friday - Subway -- Nanny's treat
Saturday - Leftovers

Treat this week - *Banana Bread Brownies and *Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf

*new to us recipes

For more great menu ideas visit I'm An Organized Junkie. 

Meal Plan Monday - August 13th

Back to school, back to sports, back to being on the run. 

Here's my first menu of this school year.

Sunday - *Sweet Corn Risotto, Salad
Monday - Sloppy Joes, Veggies and Ranch Dip
Tuesday - Grilled Skirt Steak, *Parmesan Orzo, Salad
Wednesday - Chicken Divan, Fruit Salad
Thursday - Grilled Dijon Chicken Sandwiches, Fruit
Friday - Nanny's treat - Subway Sandwiches

Most of these meals are coming from my huge freezer cooking session in July -- Sloppy Joes, Skirt Steak, shredded chicken for Chicken Divan and mariated DijonChicken breasts are already in the freezer.  I just have to thaw the night before and heat or cook the next evening.  The Sloppy Joes and Chicken Divan I will heat in the crockpot before we go to practice on those nights.  I will grill the Dijon Chicken on Tuesday with the skirt steak.  All of this gets dinner on the table quickly and keeps us eating at home on very busy nights.

* new to us recipes

For more meal ideas, visit I'm An Organized Junkie.

Freezer Cooking Wrap Up

Several days ago I embarked on my yearly summer freezer cooking session to prepare for our very busy back to school and sports season.  Here's how it went -- I didn't get to the cookies or a few of the breakfast items.  My freezers are getting really full and I decided to wait on those for a month or so.

Beef Recipes
Meatballs (3 meals)
Sloppy Joes (did not make - when I cleaned/organized the freezer, I found 3 meals)
Beer Chili (3 meals)
Taco Meat (browned beef with taco seasoning) (2.5 quarts)
Beef Mix (browned beef with onions and garlic) (6 quarts)
Lasagna (2 meals)
Manicotti (2 meals)

Chicken Recipes
Whole Chickens -
Shredded Chicken and Broth (8 cups shredded chicken and 14 cups broth)
Mediterranean Chicken * (1 meal)
Lemon Rosemary Chicken (1 meal)

Marinated Breasts-
Garlic Ranch * (1meal)
Dijon (1 meal)
Lemon Pepper (2 meals)
Teriyaki (2 meals)
Bourbon (1 meal)
BBQ (using Pappy Red's BBQ sauce) (1 meal)
Greek Chicken (2 meals)
Plain, Shredded - (did not make - found 4 - 2 c packages when organizing the freezer)

Meals -
Honey Sesame Chicken * (2 meals)
Orange Chicken * (1 meal)
Buffalo Chicken (2 meals)
Cilantro Lime Tacos * (2 meals)
Chicken Taquitos * (1 meal)

Pork -
Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs (4 meals)
Pizza Pasta Casserole (2 meals)
Pizza Bagel Bites *
Ham and Cheese Croissants * (12 sandwiches)

Side Dishes -
Mac and Cheese (4 meals)
Broccoli Casserole (3 meals)
Spinach Parmesan Bake * (2 meals)
Lima Beans
Baked Potato Casserole (3 meals)
Mashed Potatoes (2 meals)

Breakfast -
Breakfast Burritos (7 -Sausage, 7-  Bacon and 2 Egg and Cheese)
Sausage Biscuits (16)
Banana Oat Muffins
Zucchini Blueberry Muffins (24)
Banana, Apple, Cranberry Muffins (18)
Oatmeal Breakfast Bars (16)
Cherry Almond Granola Bars *
Pancakes (4 dozen)
Waffles
Peanut Butter Granola (6 cups)
Vanilla Granola

Treats -
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Kentucky Sugar Cookies
Chocolate Almond Biscotti (1 batch - 16 pieces)

Extras -
Chocolate Sauce (1 bottle)
Enchilada Sauce (3 meals)
Red Beans (3 - 2 cups portions)
White Beans (3 - 2 cup portions)

* New to us recipes