September 7, 2019

WEEKLY MENU 09.08.19

Avoid the catastrophe of no dinner – plan now!

Our Weekly Menu 09.08.19 helps get the week off to a great start – full dinner plan lets you know what’s for dinner, now.

I love a door. I think the possibilities they represent are the reason why. The picture on this post looks like an entry to another world entirely. The door on our staid, white home with black shutters is bright red. And I love it. We have a series of pictures we got during a visit to Charleston that depict various doors from that area. They all beckon you in. They are the first doorpost (as it were) of hospitality.

Going out of doors on the other hand, tends to be fast and hasty. I don’t actually remember it, but my mother often told the story of my brother and me going through the front storm door when we were both very little. Headfirst and with a tremendous crash, we failed to negotiate the turn from the stairs into the living room. (I presume I was being chased.)

Mom came rushing from the kitchen, and after taking a quick look at the devastation, plucked me from the floor of the porch. She took me to the kitchen counter where most of our first aid took place. Why me? I was covered in blood. It turns out it wasn’t mine, which Mom discovered after wiping most of it off. My poor brother was bleeding from an arm wound that probably required 30 stitches. He apparently wrapped around me when he realized where we were headed. Good times with doors.

Our boys didn’t go through any doors, thank God, but there were plenty of scrapes and bruises.

Our Weekly Menu 09.08.19 starts out with an Italian meal – we’re having no boil lasagna. The “no-boil” part is what makes the entire dish palatable to the cook (me). I have very little luck with cooking of the noodles. They break, they burn me and they tend to stick together. No thank you. Pepperoni Balls are a regional favorite, so I’m going to give them a homemade treatment.

Our stuffed chicken sounds pretty high-brow, but it’s super easy to put together: I use boxed stuffing mix. I make the stuffing mix in the microwave then put little mounds in a casserole dish. Let the stuffing cool. Sometimes I cover the stuffing with a slice of cheese before putting the raw chicken breast on top. I cook until the chicken is to at least 160 degrees F using an instant read meat thermometer (affiliate links follow). Depending on the size of the breasts, it takes about 30 minutes. Boom! Dinner and a side, ready to go.