Menu Plans

Menu Plan

Sarah

Menu Plan | thepajamachef.com

Week of March 13

I’m back to sharing my personal menu plans. The way I’m menu planning these days is a little different than before… I’ve adopted a meal rotation (or at least, am trying to) so that weeknights are easier. I’m committing to making only tried and true recipes on Mondays-Thursday night. We’ll see how it goes, but for the past two weeks it’s been good. 🙂

Monday: Szechuan Green Beans
Tuesday: Turkey Sloppy Joes
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: Mexican Cornbread Pot Pie
Friday: homemade pizza for Ben’s birthday!
Saturday: Crockpot Chinese Pork with Noodles –> made this as a freezer meal before #BabyVolde was born and it’s become a family favorite!!
Sunday: out to eat

Main Dishes, Recipes, Soups

Apple Cheddar Bacon Soup with Cheesy Croutons

Sarah

Cheesy soup gets dressed up with sweet apples, salty bacon, and ooey gooey cheesy croutons!

Cheesy soup gets dressed up with sweet apples, salty bacon, and ooey gooey cheesy croutons!

At first glance, this is an unlikely soup. Apples, cheddar, and bacon? “Pass!” you might be thinking. But hold up just a minute… cheddar and bacon is a classic combo, right? And you’ve heard of the whole cheddar cheese with apple pie thing, right? And applewood smoked bacon is totally a thing. So let’s put it all together–apples, cheddar, bacon. Not so unlikely after all! (And pssttt… I made a fabulous Maple Apple Pie Crisp with Cheddar Crust and Bacon Crumb Topping a couple years back!) And if you need further convincing, just think of it this way: this soup has the sweet and salty thing down pat.

Cheesy soup gets dressed up with sweet apples, salty bacon, and ooey gooey cheesy croutons!

And it’s utterly delicious. Next time you’re in the mood for an interesting new soup recipe, check out this one! I’m sure you’ll love it. 🙂

one year ago: Spicy Ranch Chicken Rice Skillet
two years ago: Chocolate Coffee Bundt Cake
three years ago: Strawberry Yogurt
four years ago: Cumin-Scented Cabbage Salad
five years ago: Extraordinary Grilled Cheese
six years ago: Best Egg Salad

Apple Cheddar Bacon Soup with Cheesy Croutons

  • Servings: 4
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from What Megan’s Making

Ingredients:

  • 3 slices bacon
  • 1 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 2 cups apples, peeled and chopped (about 2 medium)
  • 1 large potato, peeled and diced
  • 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 1/2 cups no-sugar-added apple juice
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • 2 slices sourdough or rye bread, toasted
  • 1 teaspoon whole grain dijon mustard

Directions:

Cook bacon in a large stockpot set over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towel to drain. Meanwhile, remove most of grease from pot, leaving about 2 tablespoons.

When bacon is cool, chop into small pieces and set aside.

Combine the onion, apples, and potato in the stockpot and saute over medium high heat until onion and apples are soft, about 8-10 minutes. Pour in chicken broth and apple juice, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until potato is soft, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and season with pepper, then stir in almost all the cheese, reserving 3 tablespoons. When cheese is melted, use an immersion blender to puree soup until smooth.

Meanwhile, preheat the broiler. Spread the toasted bread with dijon and evenly divide reserved cheese between slices. Broil–watching carefully!–until cheese is bubbly and melted. Remove from oven, cool for a couple minutes, then slice into bite-sized squares. Serve soup with bacon, cheese croutons, and lots of black pepper. Enjoy!

Breads, Breakfast, Recipes

Butterscotch Banana Bread

Sarah

Sweet spiced banana bread with butterscotch chips! A fun new twist on everyone’s favorite “use up the bananas on the counter” recipe. 🙂

Sweet spiced banana bread with butterscotch chips! A fun new twist on everyone's favorite "use up the bananas on the counter" recipe. :)

Another Mom recipe! This time, for Butterscotch Banana Bread. In May 2003, when this recipe was first made, it was “very good.” And I was about to graduate from high school. #old

Sweet spiced banana bread with butterscotch chips! A fun new twist on everyone's favorite "use up the bananas on the counter" recipe. :)

I have no memory of the original baking of this banana bread, but I do know I’ve made it several times over the last nine years since Ben and I started dating, were engaged, and have been married. Ben looooves butterscotch flavored things, so I’m always looking for the next butterscotch treat to surprise him with! 🙂 In this banana bread, the caramel-y flavor of the butterscotch chips pairs perfectly with the classically spiced banana bread. What a great match! But let’s be real… is there ANYTHING that doesn’t mix in well with banana bread? Pretty much… no. 🙂 Enjoy!

one year ago: S’mores Bundt Cake
two years ago: Freezer Breakfast Burritos
three years ago: Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
four years ago: Applesauce Muffins
five years ago: Black Bean Soup Like You Mean It
six years ago: Black Bean & Corn Quinoa Salad

Butterscotch Banana Bread

  • Servings: 12
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from my mom 🙂

Ingredients:

  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 cup ripe mashed bananas – about 2-3 bananas
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 6 ounces butterscotch chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9×5 inch bread pan and set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a large bowl, mix  bananas and sugar together. Add egg and butter, stirring until smooth. Alternate folding in flour mixture with milk, stirring until just combined. Stir in butterscotch chips, then transfer to prepared pan.

Bake for 60-70 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting.

Menu Plans

Menu Plan: St. Patrick’s Day Style!

Sarah

Check out this St. Patrick’s Day-themed meal plan and celebrate with us! 🙂

Check out this St. Patrick's Day-themed meal plan and celebrate with us! :)

It’s almost March! And you know what happens in March… St. Patrick’s Day… also known as Ben’s birthday! 🙂 Yup, he’s a St. Paddy’s baby. Fun fact: his brother has a Valentine’s birthday AND #BabyVolde has a Cinco de Mayo birthday. I guess our family just likes holiday birthdays! Anyways for regular readers of my blog, you may have noticed that there wasn’t a menu plan last week. We’ve decided to switch things up and share monthly themed round-ups to help YOU plan special meals each month. Hope you enjoy this Irish celebration! 🙂

Side Dishes

Check out this St. Patrick's Day-themed meal plan and celebrate with us! :)

Check out this St. Patrick's Day-themed meal plan and celebrate with us! :)

Check out this St. Patrick's Day-themed meal plan and celebrate with us! :)

Entrees

Check out this St. Patrick's Day-themed meal plan and celebrate with us! :)

Check out this St. Patrick's Day-themed meal plan and celebrate with us! :)

Desserts

Check out this St. Patrick's Day-themed meal plan and celebrate with us! :)

Check out this St. Patrick's Day-themed meal plan and celebrate with us! :)

Check out this St. Patrick's Day-themed meal plan and celebrate with us! :)

This month’s recipe round up was brought to you by:

Savory Moments | The Pajama Chef | Ninja Baker | The Cooking Actress | Pies and Plots | The Spiffy Cookie | Foodtastic Mom | Kelly Lynn’s Sweets and Treats

Pin this to your meal planning board for easy access all month long!

Check out this St. Patrick's Day-themed meal plan and celebrate with us! :) Check out this St. Patrick's Day-themed meal plan and celebrate with us! :)

Cookies, Desserts, Recipes

Peanut Butter Honey Oatmeal Cookies

Sarah

Delightful little chocolate-studded oatmeal cookies filled with lots of peanut butter and honey flavor. Everyone will sneak open the cookie jar for “just one more” over and over again!

Delightful little chocolate-studded oatmeal cookies filled with lots of peanut butter and honey flavor. Everyone will sneak open the cookie jar for "just one more" over and over again!

My  mom has the cutest habit. Whenever she makes a recipe, she jots down a note on the recipe itself with her thoughts and the date. So no matter if it’s a recipe from a cookbook, a magazine, or printed out from the internet, she has a record of when she made a recipe AND what everyone thought of it. The worst recipes get thrown away or crossed out… but the best she sends on to her daughters. I have to admit that I don’t make all of the recipes she sends my way… but the best? Of course. 🙂 And since these Peanut Butter Honey Oatmeal Cookies, first made in February 2011, were “out of this world,” you know I HAD to make them.

Delightful little chocolate-studded oatmeal cookies filled with lots of peanut butter and honey flavor. Everyone will sneak open the cookie jar for "just one more" over and over again!

Why wouldn’t they be out of this world? Let’s look at the ingredients: oats, peanut butter, honey, chocolate… these are a few of my favorite things! Aren’t they yours?

Delightful little chocolate-studded oatmeal cookies filled with lots of peanut butter and honey flavor. Everyone will sneak open the cookie jar for "just one more" over and over again!

I’ve made these cookies two ways, as you can see in the recipe below. The first way is with a combination of peanut butter and honey. Don’t use the straight up natural kind–there’s too much oil–but you can use the shelf-stable natural peanut butter. That works great! OR  you can use some of those fun peanut butters that blend honey and peanut butter together, or even use honey-roasted peanut butter. The possibilities are endless! Just be sure to use some sort of honey and peanut butter combo, because it’s the addition of honey that takes these oatmeal based cookies from ordinary to out of this world extraordinary! P.S. Crunchy peanut butter lovers take note–crunchy peanut butter is awesome here too! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Enjoyyy!

one year ago: Apple Peanut Butter Pancakes with Sautéed Cinnamon Apples
two years ago: Potato Rosemary Knots
three years ago: Lindsay’s Chicken Noodle Soup
four years ago: 60 Minute Sandwich Buns
five years ago: Mexican Chicken Alfredo
six years ago: Tomato Tortellini Soup

Peanut Butter Honey Oatmeal Cookies

  • Servings: 6 dozen cookies
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from my mom 🙂

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups quick-cooking oats
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup peanut butter – I used the Peter Pan Natural kind… any of the shelf stable “natural” peanut butters would be fine, or regular peanut butter. I wouldn’t use natural peanut butter that you have to refrigerate though. Creamy or crunchy peanut butter are both good options here. You can omit the honey below if you want to use a honey-peanut butter blend.
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, stir together oats, flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

With an electric mix, beat together butter, peanut butter, and honey. Beat in sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in eggs until just combined, then fold in oat mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

Use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop out the dough onto cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Let cookies cool on cookie sheets for a few minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.