Hey all, how are ya? Do you remember way back when I posted a compilation of freezer cooking links? I found there was a lot of interested in not only freezer cooking but once a month cooking as well. Well now there is a very helpful site dedicated entirely to once a month cooking.
Two gals, Cortney and Tricia, walk you through the whole process from start to finish at Once a Month Mom. They provide everything you need including menus, recipes, shopping lists and even labels for FREE! I am super impressed with how they do all this each month.
Also just a heads up about the Virtual Great American Bake Sale going on right now via Kate at her Cooking during Stolen Moments blog. All proceeds will go to Share Our Strength to help fight child hunger. There are many ways you can get involved including submitting a recipe to the ebook Kate is putting together for purchase. You can read all the details about it here.
My recipe highlight of last week goes to the Pasta Meatball Soup. Super easy to make and it makes a ton so it was enough to cover two meals for us.
Quick question…anyone know how to make roasted sweet potato fries? I tried last week (just drizzled a little oil on them) and they all came out mushy. So then I tried to broil them to crisp them up and burnt them. Any ideas?
Here’s what’s on our menu for this week:
Monday: Spaghetti
Tuesday: Italian Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breasts served with french fries
Wednesday: Chicken and Bacon Roll-Ups (using leftover chicken) served with spinach salad
Thursday: Pork Chops Stuffed with Feta and Spinach (I almost didn’t consider this one as there are quite a few ingredients but the video makes it look easy, we’ll see)
Friday: Quick and easy homemade pizza
Saturday: Makeover Creamy Italian Sausage Pasta
Simple Supper Sunday
WHAT’S ON YOUR MENU THIS WEEK?
Menu Plan Monday guidelines and banner selections are here.
48 Comments
I love Kate’s blog. I found it and made the Pizza Bread recipe, delicious, and have been checking in on her ever since. Great things going on!
NAOmni
I met Courtney and Tricia at Blissdom. I plan on using their site for ideas to stock up my freezer before the baby. Thanks for posting about them!
Your menu is making my mouth water, I have been craving bacon and feta lately!
Toni
I’ve never made sweet potato fries, but had them in a restaurant one time. They were dusted with powdered sugar after being fried. Very yummy!
We tried making sweet potato fries, and IMO they turned out terrible! I don’t know if there’s a secret to cooking them properly, but the taste was not enough to motivate me to search for the answer! lol Have a great week :)
Homemaker Barbi / Danelle Ice
looks great — the Italian Bacon Wrapped Chicken sounds nummy.
For the fries, I drizzle in oil and bake for a LONG time…. The longer you bake, the less mushy the fries.
Sweet potato fries… not so much luck with those. :( We all hated them. Just not big sweet potato fans in my house. Sure wish we were, though!
Thanks for the links! You have a great menu! Have a lovely week!
Allie
Learningtobefrugal.com
When I do sweet potato fries, I grill them in a grill pan on my stove top. That way, they’re nice and crisp.
Allie
Learningtobefrugal.com
THANKS! How excited was I to see this post this evening! I LOVE your site and your organization tips! It was one of the very first I ever subscribed too! Thanks so much!
I’m doing The Virtual Bake Sale too, I think it’s a great idea.
Kaycee, I contributed one of my favorite cheesecake recipes. Looking forward to the ebook coming out.
Thanks for the links to the freezer meals, I can’t wait to try them out!!
Anything that you want crispy, you have to immerse in oil and fry. Not very encouraging, eh? I almost burned the house down trying to make them once. If you grate them you can fry them like hashbrowns–kind of easier than deep frying.
I’m starting a month worth of cooking this week too. How funny it is when great minds think alike. :) I meant your mind was great…
It all looks so tasty.I can ask McKenna’s cooking teacher for hints on sweet potato fries :)
Here’s a link to the Nealy’s from Food Network’s Memphis Sweet Potato Fries. I haven’t made them yet, but I am planning on it! Maybe this will help. Keep us updated.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/patrick-and-gina-neely/memphis-sweet-potato-fries-recipe/index.html
This is my first time posting and I sure hope that I followed all of the directions. Don’t be too upset if I didn’t do it right. I am trying!!!! Thank you for your blog and all the great ideas. I owe to you my interest in blogging. Yours was the first I found and I was hooked. I hope to be able to post more here and hopefully learn more so my posts are more informative for everyone. Thanks again.
We LOVE sweet potato fries and have had great luck with them. I put them in a zip loc bag with some olive oil and nature’s own seasoning –S&P would be fine. Mix it all until every fry is coated and bake on a stone at 450 about 12-15 minutes. I use a pampered chef bar pan but a pizza stone will do. They are not McDonald’s fried crispy but definitely not mushy and they are the perfect blend of sweet and salty. LOVE them!!
Hi Laura,
I use the same method as Heather. Coat the fries w/ oil, baking stone, hot oven, patience. Not as crispy as deep fried, but good. May try a gf meatball soup.
I’m so excited to finally post something.
I have been following for months. My cousin Kate @ Kate’s Kitchen convinced me how easy this is to blog.
Can’t wait to read what everyone is munching on this week.
Here’s what I do for sweet potato fries: I stir them in a bowl with a little oil and spices and salt. Then spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 425 for 20 minutes, turning every so often. Sometimes I need to leave them in a little longer to get more crisp, I just keep an eye on them.
For sweet potato fries, rather than deep frying, Cooks Illustrated recommends a preheated, oiled baking sheet – we’ve never tried it, though Cook’s Illustrated is usually on the right track.
Thanks for the reminder about the Virtual Bake Sale, I’ve been meaning to do that.
Thanks for hosting!
~Liz
I love the recipes and ideas. Makes meal planning so easy and fun! Thanks!
I think I need a couple of days free to just go through all these blogs and collect ideas. Such fun!
I always pick up sweet potato fries at our local Walmart. They are in the freezer section. The last time I went to Sam’s Club, I picked up a huge 4lb. bag.
Jennifer
This week we play it by ear because mom and dad are coming in to town for my b-day. We’re eating out a lot yikes!
As for the sweet potato fries, mine are always soft except they do seem to crisp up slightly more when we use a stone to bake them.
Have a great week!
Hrm don’t know why your sweet potatoes came out mushy unless you didn’t have the oven up high enough or left them in too long. I recently made them to go with baked fish, and I just slivered them and coated with olive oil, then baked. Try 375 and take them out as soon as they are cuttable.
Just love your blog. Have been a follower for a very long time.
This is my first time joining in on the Menu Plan Monday.
I usually only plan a couple days in advance and usually end up at the store several times a week. So planning a full week may be a good thing for me :)
Thanks,
Shelly
Mom Getting Fit
http://www.MomGettingFit.com
We have sweet potato fries all the time and while they are not super crispy they are not mushy. I coat them with EVOO and then bake in a 425 degree oven for 20 mins. I turn them over after 10 mins.
EML
I love this! My mother started me on this years ago & it’s so helpful! Thanks for bringing it all together!
Hi Laura,
I linked my meal plan for the first time and I hope I did it right. I love your site and it has inspired my husband and me to start a blog to keep ourselves organized. Please let me know if I didn’t link or annotate correctly.
Many thanks,
Kate
The recipe highlight, Pasta Meatball Soup, sounds wonderful and easy. I’ll have to try it! Thanks!
I am so excited to post my first menu plan! I want to be more cautious and healthy with our food, and this is the perfect place to do both.
What a phenomenal resource of websites! I’m amazed at women that can plan out a week’s worth of recipes. Re: making fries, we have a really easy recipe. Turn the oven to broil on high. In the meantime, cut up your potatoes into fries. Brush olive oil onto a pan, then put the fries on and brush them with more olive oil. Season accordingly. Broil for 6-8 minutes (or until brown) and then flip them over. Broil for another 6-8 minutes. Serve with sour cream & green onions. Works everytime! You also might enjoy this quick and easy chicken enchilada recipe – it’s delish!http://tinyurl.com/cb3d6y
Thanks for posting the info on once a month cooking. I’d like to start doing that and I’m going to check it out later.
lots of greens in our veggie box this week, guess what we will be having for dinner! :-)
Heres the recipe that I use: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/sweet-potato-oven-fries/
Sometimes you need to keep them in the oven a little longer.
Once a month freezer cooking sounds very cool!! Thanks for the link.
I have made sweet potato fries and used this recipe :
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/kathleen-daelemans/sweet-potato-fries-recipe/index.html
They turned out quite yummy and the kids really liked them.
I made the sweet potato fries by cutting them into thin sticks and baking them. They didnt go over really well. I don’t think they were really mushy, but the family didn’t care for them.
Hi,
Thank you again for doing this for everyone. It has made a real difference in my life as a homemaker. I’m not really great at coming up with things on my own, but I sure can copy other people’s good ideas! And menu planning is a great idea.
God bless,
Elizabeth
I’ve posted mine and it should be at #338.
Laura, I think that I’m going to print out that pasta meatball soup as it sounds good. I don’t know if the girl will eat it or not but hubby will like it =)
Thanks for the tips
Betty
I’ll tell ya, those spinach/feta stuffed pork chops sound wonderful! Do let us know if they’re worth the trouble (I’ll bet, yes!)
Not exactly fries, but I cut sweet potatoes into cubes and put in a zip loc bag with a tad of olive oil and salt…squish until potatoes are coated and then bake on 400 (on parchment paper covered sheet). Don’t remember how long but the outsides are crispy and the insides are puffy tasting.
Thanks for the meal planning links. I am sure I’ll find many helpful tips. Thanks for hosting MPM!
My favorite recipe for sweet potato friend is from the book “Crazy Plates: Low Fat Food So Good, You’ll Swear It’s Bad for You” by Janet & Greta Podleski. Someone typed it up already on this forum: http://forums.llli.org/showthread.php?t=31618
Never participated in MPM, but I’m working toward it. I’ve always been the girl that values “freedom” over planning and schedules, but at 35, I’m starting to figure out that planning ahead gives you more freedom.
Oops! I almost forgot to add my link here! I’m sorry!
I’ve made sweet potato fries, but only frying them (sorry).