April 25, 2020

WEEKLY MENU 04.26.20

Relying more on what’s already in the house for our Weekly Menu 04.26.20 means fewer (masked) trips to the grocery store~

We’ve been baking like crazy around here. I love having cookies in the house, plus last week we had not one, but two birthdays to celebrate. Of course we had to have two different cakes. I’m not a monster.

What is really getting a work out is the bread making. Fewer trips to the grocery store mean less roll and bread availability at home. I’m also going a little old school – last week we had Navy Bean and Ham Soup. (Check out the Weekly Menu 04.19.20 for deets. ) It was delicious, but as our oldest mentioned, the bread really made the whole meal stand out.

BREAD! BREAD! BREAD!

Can there be anything better than fresh, homemade bread slathered with butter? Nope. Check out this Easy Crusty French Bread. We had it with the soup. It is SO easy, and pretty fast. We’re working from home, so we can take a few minutes away from that and go through the steps to make this simple loaf.

I have to admit that the recipe and video makes me want all the accoutrements that are used in the recipe and video. I NEED a Bread Proofing Basket. (Affiliate links follow – see Disclaimer Page for details.) I know, I know. No one actually needs a proofing basket. This bread cooks in a Dutch oven, although there are directions to bake alternately. I love our Dutch oven – I use it for everything already, so this was a fun new way to get it out of the cupboard.

Is Yeast at a premium where you are?

It’s getting a little tough to find around here. No worries! We tried this awesome Quick Cheese Muffin recipe this week too. (The Quarantine diet is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?) They were moist and super fast. I made them while Pops Crispy Chicken was cooking. Bonus? No yeast required.

A perennial favorite is Paula Deen’s Cream Biscuits. They have only THREE ingredients. Even I can’t screw that up. They do call for “Self Rising Flour” – if you don’t have any, you can make your own by combining regular flour, baking powder and salt. Check out the measurements for Self Rising Flour here. (Courtesy of Allrecipes.com)

It’s past time to check out the Weekly Menu 04.26.20

It’s not crazy healthy, but Bert and the boys adore the Crispy Fish recipe so much that it was a dinner request – and we’re not even in lent anymore. We have some apples that need to be used up, so we’re starting with the super easy Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Dip. Plus, we have all the other ingredients in the fridge.

Monday is an easy sheet pan dinner. I love the way that the chicken flavors the potatoes. The peas go on last minute so they stay green. This meal cries out for a loaf of bread, don’t you think?

I’ll add some chili powder to the Cheddar Cheese Dressing to make it more Mexican flavored. The dressing is a riff on Blue Cheese dressing, but it’s much more kid friendly.

Bert isn’t a huge fan of pasta, so I’ll make the broth for the Sausage Noodle Bowl separately from the pasta. I’ll prep some rice for him, and everyone can add whatever they want to the broth. Zucchini Noodles work great here too. Zoodles are king!