Hello! Long time no talk! In the 14+ years of writing this blog, I have never taken a summer break from meal planning. But this year, with my hand and two somewhat complicated trips (including getting a puppy!), I gave myself some space and it was the right thing to do. But now it’s back to real life, including the weekly menu! I am allowed to start using my hand like “normal” again this week, so cooking is in our near future! (Thumb update: I can bend the joint, it’s still not normal, and it will take quite some time to see the ultimate result…but we’re making progress!)

MONDAY:

• Cream of Mushroom Soup

TUESDAY:

• Thai Basil Beef

WEDNESDAY:

• Homemade Hamburgers

THURSDAY:

• Asian Spinach & Chicken Salad

FRIDAY:

• Leftovers

SATURDAY:

• Takeout Night

SUNDAY:

• Smoked Meat Night with Salad

Your turn! Share those meal plans, no matter how plain or fancy! Have a great week, everyone! It’s good to be. back!

Well, I got completely caught up in Father’s Day fun yesterday and spaced menu planning. But we need it! Here we go…

MONDAY:

• Leftovers & Takeout Night (because I am just now planning!)

TUESDAY:

• Thai Basil Beef

WEDNESDAY:

• Homemade Hamburgers

THURSDAY:

• Dinner from a friend

FRIDAY:

• Leftovers

SATURDAY:

• Midsummer celebration with my family!
• Swedish Meatballs
• Limpa bread
• Other Swedish goodies

SUNDAY:

• Roadtrip to pick up our new puppy! (What am I getting myself into? Also, I am so excited!)

Your turn! Share your meal plans in the comments below! Thank you!

Limpa is a bread that my family has loved and enjoyed for generations. Swedish limpa bread is a rye bread but before you say “I don’t like pumpernickel” hear me out. (And if you do like pumpernickel, you’ll be especially delighted). While this limpa bread recipes are made with rye flour, limpa has a different, more subtle taste than most rye breads . The texture and flavor are a bit lighter and there is a nice sweetness to the bread. I love limpa with a nice thick layer of cold butter, but topping with havarti cheese is another family favorite. Limpa is also lovely as toast and even good for sandwiches with meats and cheeses! If you like baking, I definitely recommend giving this limpa bread recipe a go!

Our family was able to find limpa at bakeries for many years, but as time has passed and we have all moved to new places, it is increasingly difficult to find limpa. My sister-in-law did the heavy lifting and found a great limpa bread recipe that has finally taken away the family’s sadness around not find a bakery that makes good limpa! This limpa bread recipe is the winner! You can click here to access the original recipe that my Cora found. I have re-written it below with more details around preparation, including substitution information, and have added it here to the blog so I don’t lose it!

I made this limpa bread recipe last Christmas for the first time myself and it came out beautifully. It was also the first time that Owen (9 at the time) had ever eaten limpa. He took his first bite and declared that his tastebuds were in heaven. I will be making limpa again this week for our family’s Midsummer celebration, a Swedish tradition held during summer solstice. Enjoy!

And in case you are wondering, yes, I am still allergic to wheat. And yes, this week I am going to try making a GF version so I don’t have to be tortured watching everyone else eat wonderful, delicious, beautiful limpa. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Swedish Limpa Bread

 

Print

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• 2 cups orange juice
• ½ cup butter
• 1⅓ cups dark brown sugar (light brown sugar is fine if you are in a pinch)
• ¼ cup dark molasses
• 2½ teaspoons caraway seeds
• 2 teaspoons anise seed or 4 pods star star anise (I looked EVERYWHERE for anise seed but could not find it. I did a ton of research, and star anise is the best substitute for the anise in this recipe, so feel free to use star of anise in a pinch!)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups cold water
• 3 tablespoons yeast
• 4 cups medium rye flour
• 5-6 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions

1. Combine orange juice, butter, brown sugar, molasses, caraway seeds and anise seed/star anise in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil for 5 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and let cool for 5-10 minutes, then add salt and water. If using star anise, remove pods. Otherwise the seeds remain in the mixture.
3. When mixture reaches 105º-115º F (which is quite warm but not too hot to touch), add yeast.
4. Pour into a large mixing bowl (I use my KitchenAid stand mixer) then add rye flour and all-purpose flour. The dough will be wet and sticky, this is a-okay!
5. Knead well. If using a stand mixer, with the dough hook knead for about 6 minutes. Again, the dough will be sticky and I highly recommend using a stand mixer if possible.
6. Cover bowl with a cloth and let rise until double in size.
7. Divide dough into four equal parts. Shape each piece into a round ball, folding the dough under to make a smooth top. Place on floured board, cover with cloth, and let rise one more time until double in size.
8. Score the tops of the loaves with a sharp knife. Transfer to a preheated 350ºF oven and cook on a baking stone. Bake for about 30 minutes, until browned and internal temperature reaches 190ºF.
9. As with most breads, let cool before cutting. Although we always break the rules and cut into just one hot loaf because it is irresistible!

3.4.3177

Hello everyone! I’m back! I’ve actually missed posting the weekly menu, but I really have tried to force myself to scale back and take it easy after this last hand surgery. But today I am feeling up for getting the weekly menu pulled together! 

MONDAY:

• Grammy’s Orange Chicken with Rice and Salad (in the freezer lovingly made by my mother-in-law)

TUESDAY:

• Spaghetti and Meatballs (another freezer meal from Pat waiting to be eaten!)

WEDNESDAY:

• Leftovers

THURSDAY:

• Dinner from a friend

FRIDAY:

• Eat out night

SATURDAY:

• Homemade Hamburgers

SUNDAY:

• Smoked Meat Night

Your turn! Share those menus in the comments below!

Hello, everyone! I took an unexpected meal planning hiatus, but we’re back! This is my last week before the {hopefully} final hand surgery, so I am cooking myself, my recipes, no Hello Fresh. 

MONDAY:

• Bolognese, Pasta and Salad

TUESDAY:

• Chicken Pot Pie

WEDNESDAY:

• Spicy Chicken Tacos with Fresh Masa Tortillas

THURSDAY:

• Cilantro Sour Cream Enchiladas

FRIDAY:

• Leftovers

SATURDAY:

• Takeout Night

SUNDAY:

• Smoked Meat Night with salad and potatoes of some sort

Your turn! Share your menus in the comments below!

Hello all! Let’s get down to business, shall we?

MONDAY:

• Middle Eastern Steak with Rice Pilaf

TUESDAY:

• Cheesy Smothered Mushroom Chicken

WEDNESDAY:

• Banh-Mi-Style Beef Tacos

THURSDAY:

• Saucy Pork Burrito Bowls

FRIDAY:

• Leftovers

SATURDAY:

• Takeout Night

SUNDAY:

• Smoked Meats Grill Night

Your turn! Please share your meal plan in the comments below!

We’re doing Hello Fresh again this week, but then for the next month I’m going to cook my own recipes again…until the next (and hopefully last) hand surgery later in May! 

MONDAY:

• Pulled Pork and Black Bean Tacos

TUESDAY:

• Chicken Fajita Bowls

WEDNESDAY:

• Firecracker Meatballs with Green Beans and Rice

THURSDAY:

• Thai Coconut Curry Chicken

FRIDAY:

• Orange Chicken

SATURDAY:

• Leftovers / Takeout

SUNDAY:

• Smoking meat night!

You know what to do…share those meal plans in the comments! Have a good week, everyone!

Hello everyone! I blew it with last week’s menu…thanks to Spring Break and Easter! But we’re back to normal this week…

MONDAY:

• Spaghetti Bolognese

TUESDAY:

• Chicken Fajita Rice Bowls

WEDNESDAY:

• Pulled Pork Tacos

THURSDAY:

• Leftovers

FRIDAY:

• Rachel Sandwiches

SATURDAY:

• Eat out night

SUNDAY:

• Smoked Meat Night!

Your turn! Share your own meal plans in the comments below! And have a delicious week!

Hi everyone! Let’s get down to it, shall we? (And, yes, those are Hello Fresh meals below and, no, I’m not normally fancy like this.)

MONDAY:

• Shwarma Spiced Chicken Rice Bowls

TUESDAY:

• Korea Beef Bibimbap

WEDNESDAY:

• Buffalo Chicken Drumsticks

THURSDAY:

• Pork Enchiladas

FRIDAY:

• Rosemary Demi-Glace Pork Chops

SATURDAY:

• Leftovers

SUNDAY:

• Meat Smoking Night

Please share your meal plans in the comments below! I love how we can all inspire each other week after week!

Years ago I wrote a series for Disney’s website Babble: 3 Kids, a Mom & a Kitchen. Babble has since been closed down and the posts are no longer online, so I have decided to sharing my favorites here on my website! This is a recipe that one of my readers Kelly said had become a favorite in their family but she could not find it online anymore. This one’s for you, Kelly! And thanks for reminding me to start sharing these great kid-friendly recipes once again!

For this month’s cooking project, I decided to teach my kids how to make risotto. When I told them, they were pumped! And, as it turns out, they had never tried risotto before, so it was really cool teaching them something totally new in the kitchen.

Risotto seems like an intimidating meal to make to a lot of people, but it’s actually quite simple. It just takes a little time and care to prepare, and, as I just discovered, is actually a great dish to make with kids!

Choosing the Recipe

I love risotto but hardly ever make it at home. I hoped that if my kids learned how to do it, we’d be more likely to include it in our menu in the future. It’s also a pretty basic recipe that I would love my kids to have in their kitchen “toolbox” when they leave home one day. 

Rankings

This recipe was a big winner in the “cooking with kids” department! They had a lot of fun making it and thought the risotto was delicious. When I asked if the recipe was hard, Anna and Cate confidently declared that it was not at all.

Steps Where Kids Can Get Involved

This recipe takes about 40 minutes of hands-on cooking time. The three kids rotated in and out of the process, which worked really well. No one got bored and there was plenty for them to do whenever they wanted to participate.

• Grating the cheese: Owen, my 3-year-old, did some of the grating and when he got bored Anna, my 7-year-old, finished it up.
• Chopping add-ins: Cate is 10 years old, so she was able to help chop the prosciutto and cook the asparagus. It was good practice for her to work on her knife skills.
• Stirring Galore: There is so much stirring in this recipe, which is my kids’ favorite thing to do when cooking. Actually, there is so much stirring they got tired of it — something I never thought could happen! The girls also loved pouring the ladles of broth into the rice.
• The Tasting

Usually our recipe tastings don’t stress me out, but this one had me on my toes. After all, the final product was dinner — if the kids didn’t like it, I didn’t know what we were going to eat that night! Thankfully all three kids enjoyed the risotto and Anna even declared it her second favorite food ever, second only to boxed long grain and wild rice mixes.

The Recipe

I used The Kitchn’s tutorial for homemade risotto as a guide and made adjustments to the recipe where necessary. I talked to the kids about how risotto is a great blank canvas for all kinds of flavors and add-ins, especially depending on the season. For example, in the fall I sometimes make Butternut Squash Risotto. Since it’s spring, we all decided to go with asparagus, which is in abundance right now. Prosciutto and asparagus are pretty much made for each other, so we had to throw some prosciutto in, too!

Asparagus and Prosciutto Risotto

 

Print

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Author: Jane Maynard

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 6-8 cups chicken stock or broth
• 4 tablespoons butter
• ⅓ onion, chopped
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced or pushed through garlic press
• 2 cups arborio rice
• ½ cup white wine
• 1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup cooked asparagus, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 5 thick slices prosciutto, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Prep all ingredients ahead of time so they are ready to go when you’re cooking.
2. Heat chicken stock in a large saucepan over medium heat, then keep warm over low heat while you continue with the rest of the recipe.
3. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a deep 12-inch skillet. Add onions and cook over medium heat until they have softened and are translucent. Add garlic and 1 more tablespoon butter and stir.
4. Add rice and raise heat to medium-high. Constantly stirring, cook rice until toasted. You should start to smell the rice toasting and the grains should look clear on the edges, with some white still in the middle of the grain.
5. Deglaze the pan by adding the white wine and cooking until wine evaporates.
6. Add 1 ladle of the chicken stock to the rice. Reduce heat to medium. Keep stirring until most of the stock has been absorbed by the rice, then add another ladle of stock. Repeat this process, until the rice is cooked through (taste testing is necessary!). The rice cooking process will take 20-30 minutes. Towards the end of this process, sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over the risotto. Do a little at a time and taste it as you go — the saltiness of the chicken stock will depend on how much salt you will need.
7. Once the rice is the texture you like, add the last tablespoon of butter, 1 more ladle of chicken stock, and the Parmesan cheese. Stir and cook until the risotto is a nice creamy texture.
8. Stir in asparagus and prosciutto and serve immediately. (Feel free to experiment with other seasonal add-ins — risotto is a great canvas for all kinds of flavors!)

3.4.3177