menu 2/24/2011

I did a poor job of following my lunch, snack, breakfast menu last week, so here goes again.




Fri
B- mini breakfast quiches
L - Cottage cheese and pineapple, baby carrots, crackers and peanut butter
D - Pizza
Snack - yogurt
Make Pitas

Sat
B-French toast
L-Egg salad pitas, Microwaved summer squash, vanilla pudding 
D- Orange chicken wraps (S&D p. 37)
S - almonds and carrots


Sun
B- Cereal w/fruit
L - Chicken/spinach salad w/feta, orange
D- Salmon with Ron's Maple-grapefruit sauce, mushroom rice and broccoli (SR p. 106) - use other fish.
S- bean dip with salsa, baby carrots

Mon
B -Blender wheat pancakes (Bosch book p. 7)
L-Tuna melt with grapes and celery
D-Spinach and cheese ravioli
S-green smoothie

Tuesday -
B-  baked oatmeal ?
L-Nachos with red peppers, black beans, cheese - pineapple
D- Chicken spezzatino (Everyday Italian p. 173 - soup)

Wednesday - Tavio's birthday
B-
L-
D-


Thursday
B-
L-Asian chicken salad with wheat crackers
D-Crock pot cabbage rolls

English Muffin breakfast pizzas

I tried this one for breakfast the other day.  I found it at Our best bites - another great food blog.  I did my own thing with it though.  Mine turned out a bit more garlicy than I would have liked, so I would adjust my amount of garlic seasoning next time.  I liked that these were relatively easy, and portable.  I'll just have to play with my seasoning amounts.  I really started with 1/4 teaspoon, but only 1/2 cup egg substitute.  I needed more though so I have to make a second batch of eggs.    I think 1/4 teaspoon with the full cup egg substitute would have been better.

Ingredients

• 1 package english muffins (6) split.  (I just used regular)
• 1 cup egg substitute
• garlic and herb seasoning to taste. (I used 1/2 teaspoon I think and it was too much. 1/8-1/4 would be better.)
• cheese of your choice - I used a cheddar blend
• topping of your choice -I used chopped bacon (the pre-cooked kind - I just chopped it with my kitchen scissors.) I almost added red pepper, but I was pressed for time.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400.  Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.  Put egg substitute in a bowl.  Mix in garlic and herb seasoning.  Dip each side of the english muffin in the egg mix and put cut side up on the prepared baking pan.  
2. Top with cheese and toppings.  Bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through.

Tomato Oregano Parmesan soup -Slow cooker

Here is the soup that we had with the peasant bread in the previous post.  It too comes from recipe shoebox.  I did actually change this one a little bit.  I'm not a huge fan of dried basil - love the stuff fresh, but dried just doesn't have the same flavor, so I swapped my amounts of oregano and basil making this a tomato Oregano rather than tomato basil soup.  I'd love to make it with more basil, but would do that when I had some fresh out in the garden.  While this was good, and I had seconds, I haven't eaten the left overs yet, so it gets bumped from 4 to 3.5 star rating.  :)  There is something to be said for whether or not I choose to eat the left overs quickly or not.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans (14-ounces each) diced tomatoes, with juice (or 1 28 oz can)
• 1 cup finely diced celery
• 1 cup finely diced carrots (I sliced mine for laziness, and would dice them next time.)
• 4 cups chicken stock (1 32 oz. container)
• 1  onion, finely diced  
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 Tablespoon. dried oregano 
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 cups half and half, warmed
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper

Directions: 

1. In a large crockpot, combine tomatoes, celery, carrots, chicken broth, onions, bay leaf, oregano, and basil.  Cover and cook on low for 5-7  hours, until flavors are blended and vegetables are soft.  
2. About an hour before serving prepare a roux:  Melt butter and whisk in flour until smooth.  Slowly stir in 1 cup hot soup from the slow cooker.  Add another 3 cups soup and stir until smooth.  
3. Add all back into the slow cooker.  Stir and add Parmesan cheese, warmed half-and-half, salt, and pepper.  Cover and cook on low for another hour until ready to serve.  Serve with fresh hot bread.   Makes about 2 quarts--6-8 servings.  

French Peasant bread

Here is another recipe from recipe shoebox that is sitting here up on my computer until I manage to get around to blogging it.  Sadly I've fallen far behind in the blogging lately - 3 boys in 3 different sports will do that to you.  :)
This bread was pretty simple and good.  It was an artisan type bread which DH loves, so he loved it.  Nice and crisp on the outside.   I've actually wanted to try it for a while, but never managed to.   I somehow had a bit of extra time and wanted a side to our soup, and this won.  Glad we tried it.  If you want some great pictures of the process, check out the recipe shoebox link.  It is great!

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbs. dry, quick rising yeast
• 2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
• 1 Tbs. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 4-5 cups all-purpose flour  (NOTE:  this will not be firm bread dough, but if the weather is humid and the dough is really sticky, you may need to add up to one extra cup of flour)
• olive oil (for greasing the pan)
• corn meal (for pan)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted 

Directions

1. Place yeast, water, sugar, and salt in warm bowl and stir until dissolved.  Add flour and stir until blended, but do NOT knead.  Cover and let rise one hour or until double in size.  
2. Flour hands, remove dough from the bowl and place in 2 roughly equal rounds on an oiled cookie sheet sprinkled with corn meal.  Let rise an additional hour. (NOTE:  I usually only let it rise 20-30 minutes and still love the way it turns out!)  
3. Brush the tops and sides of the rounds with melted butter and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and cook an additional 15 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and brush tops and sides of rounds again with melted butter.  

Lime Zucchini Muffins

In my attempts to get some form of veggies into my picky 2 year old, I've been trying various things - green smoothies, purees, and things like zucchini breads.  The day I made these for breakfast I also made some zucchini blueberry bread (since I was already shredding zucchini.)  He actually did eat a bit of these.  Not much though, but more than the bread.  I think on the bread he didn't like the blueberries more than he noticed the zucchini.  But, that is beside the point -  My real surprise on these muffins was that DH really liked them - I think more than I did.  I honestly didn't even expect him to try these.  I mean the zucchini isn't even hidden, but he did, and he liked them - told me "I can't stop eating these."  So I guess I'll have to make them again.
The recipe is from recipe shoebox.  I love that site.  Awesome recipes.  I made them exactly as written there, although next time I will probably sub out applesauce for at least part of the butter.  I also didn't have the right almonds.  I put some sliced ones on a few muffins and left some plain for my anti nut children.

The ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 tsp. lime or lemon zest
• 2 Tbs. lime or lemon juice
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 cups shredded zucchini

TOPPING:

• 1 Tbs. sugar
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds, slightly crushed

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar.  Beat in eggs, zest, and juice.  Stir in dry ingredients, then zucchini. 
2. Spoon into well-greased or paper lined muffin cups.  Sprinkle with sugar, then almonds.  
3. Bake at 325° for 18-20 minutes.  Makes about 15 muffins.  

menu 2/17/11

OK, making a good menu again this week - I must eat more fruits and veggies - and not just in green smoothies.

Fri
B- Grapefruit, toast with cream cheese, (or stuffed french toast if I get fancy)
L - Cottage cheese and pineapple, baby carrots, crackers and peanut butter
D - Nachos with left over pork from the other day)
Snack - yogurt
Make Pitas

Sat
B-Waffle w/yogurt and strawberries
L-Egg salad pitas, Microwaved summer squash, vanilla pudding 
D- Chicken broccoli and smoked mozzarella
S - almonds and carrots


Sun
B- Cereal w/fruit
L - Chicken/spinach salad w/feta, orange
D- Frisco Melt (p. 104-105)
S- bean dip with salsa, baby carrots

Mon
B -Breakfast pizzas
L-Tuna melt with grapes and celery
D-Ham and Broccoli rolls
S-green smoothie

Tuesday -Benjamin's Birthday
B- ?? donuts? baked oatmeal ?
L-Nachos with red peppers, black beans, cheese - pineapple
D- Karley's pork

Wednesday
B-
L-Asian chicken salad with wheat crackers
D-Fillet o fish (p. 80-81)

Lighter chicken pot pie

Pork tenderloin with peach sauce

Cuban food

Banana/peanut butter sandwich cookies

In 'n Out double double

Well, I must update my poor blog.  I have lots of pictures with no recipes or even info.  This one that has been sitting here for 2 weeks with only a picture was from a fun book I found at the library. (Hmm, just put the Amazon link and I see that it is only 5.98.  I may have to go order that.  :)  We tried a few of the recipes from it.  This day I may or may not have also tried the Arby's curly fries -  I wasn't nearly as impressed with them.  They were spicier than the original, and I never found the little tool that curls them.  I'm not even bothering with a post for them.  

These burgers were her version of and In 'n Out Double double.  The thing I really liked about her cookbook was that she was trying to make healthier versions of the original that still tasted good.  As far as I could tell with most of the burgers, it was all about the sauce.  She didn't season the meat at all.  (I did.)  I also changed all cheeses to something better than American - I'm so NOT a fan of American cheese - yuck.  Here we put cheddar.  The burgers were good, but probably could have used more sauce.

Another thing about her book - all recipes were for a single serving, so adjusting for a family is necessary.  This is how I made these.

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs lean ground beef.  (this is enough for 6 double doubles)
• pinch season salt
• 6 buns
• 1 tomato - sliced
• several leaves of lettuce
• cheddar cheese
• onion (I would have grilled these if I had time)

Sauce ingredients

• 1/2 cup light mayo
• 4 teaspoons ketchup
• 4 teaspoon drained dill relish

Directions

1. Mix sauce ingredients together in a bowl.  
2. Mix beef with season salt.  Divide into 2 oz. balls and shape each into a 4" patty.  (These will be pretty thin.)
3. Preheat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until it sizzles when sprinkled with water.  Place patties in the pan.  Cook for 1-2 minutes per side, or until patties are browned but still slightly pink inside.
4. Meanwhile toast buns (she says in the pan next to the 1 burger she was making, we toasted them in the toaster on the bagel pre-set.)
5. Build the burger.  You can see how we made it.  (She has directions - bun, sauce, tomato, lettuce, patty 1, cheese, onion, patty 2, cheese, bun top.)  I'd probably put my cheese on my burgers in the pan next time so it would melt.  

papa john's pizza crust

Here is another recipe from Fast food fix.  She actually makes a Hawaiian bbq chicken pizza complete with home-made sauce.  I made that at a later date than this picture, but don't plan to include the recipe.  It would have been just as good (and easier) with purchased bbq sauce.

  This picture was just a day I decided to make pizza after noon, and our regular dough needs to be started before that so I tried this dough.  It turned out well.  The best thing I learned here was how to roll the dough like Papa John's (and I didn't even read it in the book, I just got the brilliant idea on my own (OK so really it wasn't all that brilliant, really I should have thought of it earlier, I just didn't.  I used to always try to roll it under.  This time I tried rolling it to the top and flipping the whole thing over onto the pizza peel.  Worked like a charm.  I made my dough this way the last 2 times I have made it.

Here is how I made the dough.  I found that I didn't need any extra flour that she called for, and I cooked it the way I cook all crust now.  I also doubled it for our family size.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup warm water 
• 1 Tablespoon instant yeast
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 3 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 cup bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons olive oil

Directions

1. [If not using instant yeast, proof it in a small bowl (place water sugar and yeast in bowl, stir until yeast is dissolved, let rest until it starts to bubble.)]  If using instant yeast like we always do, place all ingredients in a stand mixer.  Mix with dough hook until dough is smooth and elastic.  (6-10 minutes depending on the mixer.)  Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
2. Preheat oven to 550.  Divide dough in half. Roll out half into a 14" circle (mine probably wasn't quite that large - I made as big as fit on my pizza peel.)  Let rest for a minute or 2.  (this reduces shrinkage of the dough when you transfer it to the peel.)   While you are waiting, sprinkle a pizza peel with cornmeal.   Roll up the edge of the dough.  (this will form the crust when flipped over.)  Gently flip the pizza crust over onto the pizza peel.  Give it a shake to make sure it will slide - if not add more cornmeal underneath before topping.  Top pizza as desired.
3. Slide pizza off onto pizza stone.  Bake for 5-8 minutes until cheese is melted and crust is golden.

Home made hot dogs

Chicken capitan

Chocolate waffles

Individual mac 'n cheese cups

menu 2/10/2010

Haven't posted a menu in ages, I've been writing everything in my calendar, but I have a lot of recipes online this week and posting links is just easier than writing it all down.

Breakfast
coconut baked oatmeal with pepper nut topping
lime zucchini muffins


Dinner

Parmesan drumsticks and sweet potato fries
Fillet o fish sandwiches (p. 80)
Slow cooker tomato basil soup with frisco melt sandwiches (TOH p. 104)
Chicken broccoli and smoked mozzarella
3 bean chili
pizza
pork chalupas

Chicken fajita chowder

This soup is also from my Taste of Home magazine.  I really liked it.  I just had some of the left overs for lunch.  You know when I've eaten all of the left overs that I really liked the food, and this was the second day I've had the left overs.  I also enjoyed the colors of the veggies - I love when I've diced everything up and have it sitting on the cutting board in little groups.  It is so pretty when it is colorful.  Here I had Red, yellow and Green peppers and white onions.  Looked so nice I almost took a picture.  I also loved that it has tons of veggies.  I feel very good about eating it.  :)  I certainly am not getting enough veggies lately, but when I eat this soup, I know I've eaten a good serving or 2.  Wonderful soup.  Give it a try.
Here is how I made it.  Not many changes from the original.

Ingredients

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, chopped (I used i container of my pre-cooked chicken)
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 yellow pepper, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 - 2 Tablespoons butter (can use olive oil to be healthy.  I just love my onions sauteed in butter.)
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 1 cup uncooked brown rice
• 1 can (10 oz) green enchilada cauce
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 1 cup sour cream (I used fat free)
• (original reciepe called for 1/4 cup canned chopped green chilies.  I only had whole and didn't want to chop them.  It would have been great with the addition of the chilies.)

Directions

1. In a large Dutch oven over medium high heat, saute onions in butter for a couple of minutes, add peppers and continue to cook for another couple of minutes. (If using raw chicken, add it at the beginning.)  Stir in water, corn, rice, enchilada sauce, chicken (if using pre-cooked) and salt.  (add chilies if using.)  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat;  cover and simmer for 35-40 minutes or until rice is tender. 
2. Remove from heat.  Stir in cheese and sour cream until cheese is melted.  

Brandon tossed some tortilla chips on a cookie sheet, threw some cheese on top of that, and baked it in the oven until the cheese melted as a side for our soup.  

bbq ribs -slow cooker

So, here are the ribs that went with the mac 'n cheese in the previous post.  I didn't change much - other than I used twice as much meat and a bit more sauce.  They turned out fine.  I still prefer David's ribs.  And for a different BBQ sauce I love the Cherry cola bbq sauce ribs.   The plum sauce in the bbq sauce was fine for me, but I like Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce a lot by itself.  For me the plum sauce didn't really make it any better, just different. - DH wasn't a fan of the plum flavor and dipped his in regular bbq sauce.

Ingredients

• 4 lbs boneless country-style pork ribs (mine had a couple of bones - original only called for 2 lbs - I had a family pack that was 4 lbs something)
• 1 can (6 oz.) pineapple juice
• 1 heaping teaspoon minced garlic (2 cloves)
• 1 cup bbq sauce
• 1/2 cup plum jam

Directions

1. In a large skillet coated with cooking spray, brown ribs on all sides.  (I did 2 batches.)  Move to 5 qt. slow cooker.  Top with pineapple juice, onion and garlic.  Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours.
2. Remove ribs;  discard cooking juices and onion.  Return ribs to the slow cooker.  Combine bbq sauce and jam;  pour over ribs.  Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes.  

Microwave mac 'n' cheese

So today's meal was some bbq ribs in the slow cooker Thanks to my taste of home magazine.  It had this mac 'n cheese recipe listed for "on the side."  I have yet to try a microwave mac 'n cheese so how could I resist trying this one.  It was Awesome!  Glad we tried it.  I am posting it first because I did make some changes and I don't want to forget what I did.  I loved that this cooked while the ribs heated in their bbq sauce.  Worked out perfect.

Ingredients

• 2 cups elbow macaroni (I used a Barilla - I love their pasta and their elbows have a cute little twist.)
• 2 cups hot water
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 Tablespoon dehydrated onions
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/4 cup milk (I used fat free)
• 1/3 cup flour
• 6 oz. 2 % velveeta
• 2 oz. sharp cheddar

Directions

1. In a medium large microwave safe dish (I used a pyrex bowl) combine macaroni, water, butter, onion, salt, pepper and mustard.  (I just stuck the cube of butter in the middle without doing anything to it - seemed to work fine.)  Cover and microwave on high for 3 minutes (I only covered it with the little cover I use to cover a plate when reheating - it fit right on top of my bowl - not tightly or anything, but again, seemed to work fine.)
2. Stir.  Cover and cook at 50% power for 3 minutes.  
3. Meanwhile, combine flour and milk.  Gradually stir milk mixture into macaroni mixture.  Add cheeses.  
4. Cover and cook 3 minutes, stir, cover and cook 3 minutes.

Rigatoni with roasted sweet potatoes

This is another recipe I found in my Taste of home simple and delicious magazine.  I did make some changes to make it serve my family.  It was rather good for a vegetarian meal.  Great flavor.  Everyone also seemed to like it.
I liked how this meal cooked up.  I cooked the noodles, made the sauce and toasted the walnuts while the veggies baked in the oven then it all came together quickly after that.  I loved the flavor of the roasted veggies too.

Ingredients

• 3 medium large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 large onion, halved and sliced
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 heaping Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• heaping 1/2 teaspoon sage
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3 cups uncooked rigatoni (I think I actually used penne)
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup cooking sherry (original was white wine or chicken broth)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
• shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Place sweet potatoes and onion in an ungreased 15 X 10 inch baking sheet.  Combine garlic, oil, salt, sage and pepper;  drizzle over veggies and toss to coat.
2. Bake uncovered at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Meanwhile, cook rigatoni according to package directions.  In a small saucepan, combine butter, cream and wine.  Bing to a gentle boil;  cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until slightly thickened.
4. Drain rigatoni; return to pan.  Add cream sauce, veggies and walnuts;  toss to coat.  Sprinkle with cheese.

Greek Tilapia

This recipe c omes to you courtesy of Taste of home's healthy cooking magazine.  It was actually second place prize winner of fish dishes in this month's magazine.  (from Sally Burrell of Idaho Falls, Idaho)  I actually changed it a tiny bit, and totally left off the last 3 ingredients and it was still wonderful.  Kind of a messy sauce, but everyone seemed to like it.  This is how I made it (with notes about the original if you would prefer to try that.)

Ingredients

• 6 tilapia fillets (4 oz. each)
• 4 teaspoons butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup crumbled tomato and basil feta 
• 1/3 cup fat free milk
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (original was 1/4 - I even worried with 1/8 because it stuck to the egg, but it was fine- I really didn't notice it.)
• 2 roma tomatoes chopped (or 1 large)
• 1/4 cup chopped olives
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds (original was pine nuts - would be nice, but I didn't find them at the grocery store.)

Directions

1. Brown the fish in butter in batches.  Transfer to a large baking sheet.
2. In a small bowl, combine egg, cheese, milk and cayenne.  Spoon over fish (this was super -soupy and drained everywhere, but just cooked up like extra egg which no one seemed to mind - it did make a huge mess of the cookie sheet, so I would suggest covering the cookie sheet with foil to make for easy clean-up.)   Sprinkle fish with tomato, olives and nuts.  Bake uncovered at 425 for 10-15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.  (I think I left mine in 12 minutes or so and it was perfect.)

(The original combined a bit of parsley, lemon juice and pepper and drizzled it over the cooked fish, but I didn't bother.  It tasted fine as it was, and that was just one more thing to make. 

Chicken and Pear bundles

This recipe is from my Taste of home simple and delicious magazine.    It was delicious.  I loved the combination of flavors.  I'd never even tried smoked mozzarella before and it was wonderful.  Definitely worth picking up again.    I'm writing it as I made it.  I did not change much - just made more bundles.
These were a bit juicy on the bottom and the bread ended up a tad more moist than I like, but that would be my only criticism.  Not sure if you could change that by the type of bread or what - they are going to be juicy with the pear and cheese, but that is what makes them tasty.  Just wish it didn't make the bread as soggy.

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs chicken breast (I had 3 rather large ones which I cut in half to make 6 pieces.)
• salt and pepper
• 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 6 slices smoked mozzarella cheese (or more :)
• 2 large bosc pears, thinly sliced
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup raspberry preserves
• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar

 Directions

1. Flatten chicken breasts evenly.  (I didn't pound them or anything, I just flattened them out, and cut them in half to make even sized pieces.)  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry sheet into a 14" square.  Cut into 4 squares.  Place chicken breast in the center of each square;  top each with a slice of cheese and a couple of pear slices.
3. Lightly brush pastry edges with egg.  OK, the directions say to bring opposite corners together and pinch to seal, but mine didn't exactly reach over all of that stuff especially if it was a strange shaped chicken breast.  I just started at one end and brought up a piece at a time in a circle - Ended up a bit like a spiral in the middle on the bottom.  I had no problem with any not having enough dough, and I had brushed the entire edge with the egg, so I had no problem with them sticking together.
4. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet;  brush with egg.  Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a meat thermometer reads 160.  
5. Combine preserves and vinegar in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave uncovered on high for 20-25 seconds or until melted.  Serve with bundles.

toasted nutella and raspberry sandwich

So, I saw this posted on two peas and their pod just yesterday.  I thought it looked delicious and planned to put it on my want to try it menu.  Then I stopped by the Walmart Neighborhood market to pick up buns yesterday because it just wasn't working to make them with all my in and out dropping kids one place or another between tutoring, basketball and wrestling last night.  Anyway, Walmart happened to have Nutella sitting there in the middle of the bread display.  I knew I had picked up raspberry jam for tonight's recipe (sadly I'm out of home made at the moment) so I grabbed the nutella and buns and whipped these up for breakfast.  It even helped me use up the loaf of bread that had been out of the freezer for 2 days and not touched.
  I had every intention of making them like French toast to put my own spin on it, and I may try that another day, but today after my morning run, (during which the temp dropped 20 degrees - crazy!!)   I didn't have time to make the batter and cook them up.  It was easier just to grill it up.  I figured I'd make it as french toast for everyone else later, but DH wanted to eat his in the car and thought it sounded less messy grilled and the younger 2 ended up eating in the car as well because I let them sleep until the last minute before leaving for preschool.  One day I do want to try them as french toast, but they were delicious as grilled sandwiches as well - even though I burned the second set trying to get laundry done while cooking.  Multitasking ruins more of my meals....
So, check out two peas and their pod's site.  Super cute pictures - she cut hers in a heart shape, and certainly used more nutella than I did.  I just spread a thin layer, and used wheat bread.  Still tasty, and easy as well.  Definitely a keeper.

Ingredients

• Bread
• Nutella
• Raspberry Jam
• butter, or butter spread, or butter spray (for grilling)

Directions

1. Spread Nutella and Jam on the bread to make a sandwich.  Butter (or spray ...) outsides of Sandwich and grill over medium heat until nicely toasted.

Sweet and Sour pork

I picked this recipe mostly because I like the typical dish or at least what I think of as Sweet and Sour pork.  This was different than that - typically I think that dish has pineapple, this did not.  I did however like that you made your own sauce.  That was different for me.  I was actually interested to see how it turned out as I was mixing the balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and ketchup.
It is another recipe from my food network magazine, but I definitely liked this one more than the chicken Parmesan.
You can find the original recipe here.  I'm going to end up typing this out because I made a few to many changes.   - mostly just up-sizing for my family, and cutting out some of the oil.

Ingredients

• 1.25-1.5 lb pork tenderloin, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup sugar, plus a pinch
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3-4 carrots, thinly sliced
• 3 scallions, sliced
• 4 cups snow peas, cut in half

Directions

1. Toss the pork with 1/2 tablespoon vinegar and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar, the soy sauce, cornstarch, ketchup, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1/3 cup water and 1/2 teaspoon salt in another bowl.
2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add the pork and slowly stir until it turns mostly opaque, about 2 minutes. Remove the pork with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate. Discard the oil and wipe out the skillet.
3. Heat the remaining 1 teaspoon  oil in the skillet, then stir-fry the garlic with a pinch each of salt and sugar, 15 seconds. Add the carrots and scallions and stir-fry until crisp-tender, 2 minutes. (Add a little water if the garlic starts to stick to the skillet. I had not trouble, but my pot is new and the non-stick is great.) Add the pork, snow peas and soy sauce mixture; stir until the pork is cooked through and the sauce is thickened, about 3 minutes.