Today is the last day of the grocery sales, so I bought what I needed, and took advantage of the Maxwell House coffee sale.

Here is my menu plan for the following week:

Tuesday: Chicken/ Green Bean/ Potato Bake, salad
Wednesday: Calzones, salad
Thursday: Chicken Ramen salad
Friday: Take Out for Maggie's Birthday
Saturday: Philly Cheesesteaks, Sweet Potato Fries, salad
Sunday: Chicken Salad Sandwiches, fresh carrots
Monday: Red Beans and Rice, Cornbread, salad
Tuesday: Tacos, black beans
Wednesday: Brats, Sweet Potato Fries, salad
Thursday: Grilled Cheese, Minestrone Soup
Friday: Pizza
Saturday:  leftovers

The new sales are out tomorrow, but I don't really need anything until next weekend.  Hopefully there'll be some great items on sale so I can stock up.

"Red Beans and Ricely Yours" - Louis Armstrong

We usually have Red Beans and Rice on Monday in order to carry on the tradition of the 19th century New Orleans housewives who started it all.  Well, that and because I love Red Beans and Rice.  From what I know, they put a big pot of beans over the fire to cook while they did laundry.  In those days, they had to do laundry by hand and of course it took all day. Thank God for modern conveniences, huh?  I don't think I would have survived long in the 19th century because I usually have one or two loads of laundry to do every day.

There are very many different versions of Red Beans and Rice out there.  Here's mine:

I like to use andouille sausage because it's a little bit spicy, but the store here hardly ever carries it.  Polska is second best.

Some like it sliced into medallions, some like it chopped small.  I like it this way:

Would it be called medallion halves?

Cook the sausage in a little oil over med-high heat. It tastes best when it's almost charred.

Take out the cooked sausage and place on a paper towel to absorb the fat.  Leave some fat in the pan to cook the vegetables- also known as The Trinity (bell peppers, celery and onion), plus carrots for color.

At this point, I like to grind in some black peppercorns for flavor

After that gets all tender-good, transfer to a dutch oven and add water (or broth), and about 1 lb of cooked red beans....

..and some cajun spice mix and season to your tastes.  My cajun spice mix is homemade.  It has garlic, onion, thyme, oregano, paprika, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper.  I like making all my own spice blends.  I've wanted Blake to make labels for me forever because he's got the best penmanship.  He hasn't been able to, so I just made them myself.

Let it simmer a half hour or so for the flavors to meld and the delicious aroma to fill up the whole house.  Meanwhile, make some rice to serve with it.  I have always used Uncle Ben's long grain white rice.  It's just the best!  I like to make twice as much so we can have rice pudding later in the week for breakfast.

This dish is so filling, there's no need for a side of vegetables or a salad although I've been known to be feeling a little extra starchy and making cornbread muffins to serve alongside.

 

Chicken Fajitas and Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan

One or more of my ancestors must be of Spanish descent because I absolutely love chilies, jalapenos, cilantro, cumin...and all that good stuff.  I can't get enough of it!  Here's how I made chicken fajitas:

Yesterday, I started marinating the chicken.  I mixed lime juice, olive oil, cumin, garlic, chili powder, chopped fresh cilantro, salt, pepper and a half of a jalapeno in a bowl and marinated the chicken breasts overnight.

About an hour before I was ready to cook, I took out the chicken to bring it to room temp and sliced it against the grain.  I cooked in in a splash of oil in batches.

While the chicken was cooking, I sliced up an onion, the other half of the jalapeno and bell peppers.

It was just us three, so we only needed half of the chicken.  I wanted to cook it all so I would have a second dinner ready on the fly.  You know the saying, "Cook once - eat twice".

I love these Pyrex containers almost as much as I love Rubbermaid.  I use Crayola Dry Erase crayons to write on the lid.  It's much easier than guessing what's inside and having to serve 'Mystery Meat'.

It washes right off.  I always like to put the date on as well.

Anyhoo, after the chicken is seared (it only takes about 5 minutes on med-high heat), it's time for the peppers and onions.  Maggie doesn't really care for tomatoes, and I don't like them much either so I leave them out but you could quarter some up and put them in after the peppers cook down a bit.

I actually like my fajita veggies almost burnt, but this isn't all just for me so I had to make them 'normal'.

While the veggies were cooking, I drizzled olive oil and freshly ground pepper over fresh asparagus spears and put them in the oven.  After they roasted a bit, I sprinkled them with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.  A very wise person once said, "You can never have enough cheese", and I live by that quote.

I like to do a buffet-style set up because my dining table is very small...too small to put all the food on it AND eat comfortably.  

I served it all with my homemade cilantro-lime sour cream, shredded spinach and of course- lots of shredded sharp cheddar because, well, "You can never have enough cheese".

This is kind of difficult to photograph me making dinners every night.  It's also time consuming.  Maybe I'll resort to videotaping them instead.  What do you think?  Please let me know in the comments.

Bacon, Potato and Split Pea Soup with Grilled Cheese and Spinach Quesadillas and Salad

For the soup:

1 pound Split Green Peas

1/2 pound bacon, chopped

1/2 - 1 onion, chopped

1-3 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

8 cups water

Chicken bouillon

Chopped garlic

salt, pepper, rosemary

In a large dutch oven over medium heat, place a swirl of oil and the chopped bacon.  Cook until almost done, then add the chopped onion and cook until the onion is soft.

Remove the bacon and onion from the pan and dump out the bacon grease.  I drained the bacon and onion on a paper towel.

Put it back in the pot and add the split peas...

...water, bouillon, garlic, potatoes, pepper and rosemary.

Bring to a boil and cover and let simmer a half hour or so...

...until the split peas and potatoes are soft and the whole house smells awesome.

At this point, you can blend the soup to create a creamy consistency.  That's what I started to do, but I realized I wanted it semi chunky.

Adjust the seasonings before serving.

Grilled Cheese and Spinach Quesadillas

It's pretty self explanatory, but I thought I'd post pictures anyway.

Btw, I picked up this cast iron skillet at a yard sale a couple of years ago for only $1.00!  

Menu Plan through March 8

The following is my tentative menu plan.  I might switch days depending on what we feel like eating.  We generally have last nights dinner for lunch the next day.  I hope to post pictures and the recipe the following day.

Wednesday:  Bacon, Potato and Split Pea Soup/ Grilled Cheese and Spinach Quesadillas/ Salad
Thursday: BBQ Chicken Sliders/ Sweet Potato Fries/ Salad
Friday:  Bacon and Potato Soup/ Salad
Saturday: Veggie Pesto Pizza/Salad
Family Day Sunday: Broccoli and Leek Soup/Chicken and Pesto Salad Sammies/ Birthday cake
Monday: Red Beans and Rice/ Steamed Broccoli/ Salad
Tuesday: Chicken and Vegetable Calzones/Salad
Wednesday: Posole Verde/ Roasted Green Beans/Salad
Thursday: Chicken Fajitas/ Chipotle Black Beans and Rice
Friday: Blackened Salmon/ Roasted Asparagus/ Salad
Saturday: Chicken Pot Pie/Salad

What's on your menu?

My Feet Are Killing Me

 My feet feel as if someone took a hammer and hit the back of them.  They've been causing me so much pain that sometimes I have to use a crutch.  I don't know what the heck is wrong (other than I'm just getting old, and I weigh more than I should), but I can't recall ever hurting them.  I went to the doctor when the pain became unbearable which was about two years ago, and he dismissed it and said that he doesn't prescribe narcotics.  Do I look like a druggie?  No, but I guess that was what he thought.
I went to another doctor before Christmas, and told her of my feet pain and also my 'runners knee' pain.  She didn't really spend much time examining them, but she said that it's a form of arthritis and bursitis.  She said I can continue to take Naproxen for the pain and swelling, and if it gets worse to see her again.
Well, it's worse.  The only thing that helps is soaking my feet in very warm water, and stretching my muscles.
This morning I noticed some spur-looking swelling:

In my younger days, I was on my feet constantly waitressing and I think that's what caused my heel spurs.  At home I am barefoot all the time.  I don't wear shoes in the house because I don't like to get my carpet dirty, but that might not be good on my feet.
My sister had the same problem and a couple years ago we went to get a fitting for soles to put in our shoes. That helped so much!  It was a difference between night and day. Maybe I should do that again before I make an appointment to see my doctor.
Do you have foot and heel pain?  If so, what do you do?

My Walgreens Haul

I really scored at Walgreens last night.  I had 2 $6.00 Register Rewards from last week, making a total of $12.00.  Mitchum (my favorite antiperspirant) was 2/$6.00 with a $4.00 RR.  I bought that using my first $6.00 RR and only paid one cent for the antiperspirant, plus I got the $4.00 RR - Whoot whoot! 

Then I got all this for $7.46 plus tax, AND I got $3.00 RR back, and I'm submitting this for my money back on the Scope.  Can I get another whoot whoot?

Here's the breakdown:
(2) Cottonelle 12 roll @ $4.99 ea - $1.00 ea from Walgreens Coupon Book =$7.98
Scott paper towels (6 rolls) @ $4.99 - $1.00 from Walgreens Coupon Book = $3.99
Scope mouthwash 1 liter @ $3.49
Wet N Wild Lip @ 2/ $3.00 = $1.50
Wet N Wild Nail @ 2/$3.00 = $1.50
Rockstar Energy Drink @ $1.00
total $19.46
minus RR $6.00 and $4.00 from Mitchum, 2 $1.00 off peelies on the Wet N Wild products = $12.00 off
total $7.46 plus tax
I really love shopping at Walgreens when they have good sales with RRs.  If I had saved the Sunday papers coupons like I used to do, I would have saved $2.00 more on the Mitchum and $1.00 more on the Scope.

I saved so much money that I treated Hank to a new squeaky.

Do you like to shop at Walgreens?