Happy Thanksgiving Week! Below is our dinner menu for the week PLUS our plans for Thanksgiving. This week feel free to share your regular weekly dinner menu, your Thanksgiving menu or both in the comments!

Click here or on the banner above to see all of my Thanksgiving-related content here on the blog.

MONDAY:
– Corner Bakery Cafe (I have a work thing in the evening, so going to take advantage of the free kids meal night!)

TUESDAY:
– Bolognese & Pasta
– Salad

WEDNESDAY:
– Leftovers/Scrounge up whatever you can find in the kitchen, Family, as I’ll be busy cooking for Thursday!

THURSDAY: Thanksgiving 2018!

• Turkey (for real this is the BEST technique for cooking turkey, be sure to click through and check it out!)
• Classic Mashed Potatoes
• Classic Stuffing
• Gravy
• Crescent Rolls and/or Squash Rolls
• Cranberry Slush (my great-grandmother’s recipe that we have EVERY YEAR NO MATTER WHAT)
• Cranberry Sauce (as per Jess’s request, there will also be canned jellied cranberry sauce)
• Sweet Potato Souffle
• Green Kale Salad with Dried Cranberries
• Dessert: Pumpkin Pie, Crumble Apple Pie, Chocolate Mousse

FRIDAY:
– Leftovers

SATURDAY:
– Leftovers

SUNDAY:
– Turkey Soup with Rice
– Homemade Bread (my Grandma’s recipe that is not published anywhere…saving that for the book I may never write ;))

Can’t wait to see what you all have cooking this week! Thank you in advance for sharing!

Today I was going through my favorite Thanksgiving recipes to share them on Facebook and discovered something – I have never published Rose’s creamed onions recipe here on my blog. This is not right and I must rectify the situation immediately.

When Nate and I met and married, his great-grandmother Rose was still alive. She was in her 90s and still lived in the beautiful Colonial home where she raised her children. It wasn’t until she was 99 years old that she finally moved into an assisted living facility, where she requested a cane simply because everyone else had one. She also always wore a dress, even in exercise classes. She passed away just one month shy of her 104th birthday and I am so grateful to have had the chance to know her.

Rose was able to meet her first two great-great-grandchildren, both of whom carry her name. My daughter, Cate Rose met Great-Great-Grandma Rose a few times — meetings that of course involved many laughs, hugs, and camera flashes.

Until she moved into assisted living, Rose made creamed onions for every holiday. Her creamed onions could always be counted on for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. After she died, Nate’s grandmother and his mom both carried on the tradition. Rose’s creamed onions are beloved and elicit wonderful memories and feelings of love.

The first time I tried making Rose’s creamed onions was with Nate’s sister Jess at Thanksgiving. We inadvertently used pickled onions for the recipe and it was horrible, but also really funny. While the laughs were good, we were a wee bit disappointed at our failure. Thankfully I have since made creamed onions successfully with my girls, keeping the tradition alive.

The more modern version of the recipe uses jarred onions, but Rose always used fresh pearl or boiler onions. The first time I made these after that initial failure, Cate and I could only find fresh onions at the store. Cate insisted that we stop looking and make the recipe the way Rose always did. She literally gripped the fresh onions to her chest, rejecting even the possibility of jarred onions. It was very sweet.

Cate and Anna three years ago, making the creamed onions recipe together

Whether you use fresh or jarred onions, the result is the same — delicious! The fresh onions take longer to cook, but if you cook them a long while, as Rose did, it works great. Either way you end up with layers of flat, soft onion petals that complement many different types of meals nicely. I will admit that my kids don’t love eating these onions nearly as much as they love making them, but I’m sure they will appreciate the taste as they get older. As my daughter Anna pointed out, even if you don’t like the onions that much, the cream around them is awesome! As for the adults in the family, we all love Rose’s onions. There are even several onion-averse members of the family who eagerly look forward to this dish each year. It’s just so good served alongside holiday food — as necessary for some family members as cranberry sauce.

Rose's Creamed Onions

 

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Recipe for creamed onions from my husband's great-grandmother, Rose McCarthy. Perfect for all kinds of holiday meals.

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• 1 16-ounce jar onions (NOT pickled) or 1 pound pearl/boiler onions (about 20-25 total)
• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup flour
• 2 cups half and half
• 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
• ¼ teaspoon dry mustard
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon pepper
• Pinch nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon paprika

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. If you are using fresh onions, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add onions and cook for 1½ minutes. Drain onions and add to an ice bath to stop cooking. Cut off the root end of the onions and then peel the outer layer off each onion. Set onions aside.
3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, add flour all at once. Whisking constantly, cook until butter has liquefied. The butter and flour will start out pasty, then boil for about 3-4 minutes, then it will foam a bit and become liquefied, about 5 minutes total. When it reaches this point, turn the heat down to medium-low and cook for 3 more minutes.
4. Slowly add cold half and half, whisking constantly while adding.
5. Raise the heat back up to medium and cook until the sauce thickens, between 5-10 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and whisk in the Parmesan cheese, dry mustard, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
7. Add onions to the sauce, stir well, then pour into a 1½-quart baking dish. Sprinkle top with paprika.
8. Jarred Onions: Bake uncovered for 10-30 minutes, until mixture is hot and bubbly. Cook longer if you want the top more browned.
9. Fresh Onions: Bake uncovered for 60-90 minutes, until onions are very soft and top is very brown. If you want to cook the onions longer to make them even softer, cover with foil once the top is as brown as you want it.
10. Creamed onions can be made a day ahead. Follow all directions until the baking step. Place unbaked creamed onions in the fridge, covered. The next day, remove baking dish from fridge, uncover, and let sit at room temperature while oven preheats. You will probably need to add 10-20 minutes of baking time.

Notes

Makes appx. 12 servings; Prep Time: 30 minutes; Cook Time: 10-20 minutes when using jarred onions, 60-90 minutes when using fresh pearl/boiler onions

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

MONDAY:
– Chicken Tortilla Soup

TUESDAY:
– Chili
– Cornbread

WEDNESDAY:
– Lasagna

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Sausage, Pepper & Onion Sandwiches

SATURDAY:
– Eat out night

SUNDAY:
– Taco night with fresh masa tortillas

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! Here is a link to all of my Thanksgiving recipes and posts. Also, this is the best way to roast a turkey. Just sayin’.

Back to this week’s dinner plans. Please share your weekly menu in the comments below! Thank you and have a great week!

Happy Friday! I have a few things I want to share with you, so I think it’s time for Show & Tell!

Wild Kratts Live

A few weeks ago we had the chance to take the kids to see the Wild Kratts Live 2.0 show, (big thank you to PBS Kids for the tickets). My kids love the Wild Kratts (even Cate who is pushing 14!). Nate and I kept the show a secret and surprised them the day we went. When we arrived we discovered we even had VIP tickets, which meant we had the chance to meet the Kratt brothers after the show. It was such a fun day!

If you have kids that like Wild Kratts I definitely recommend the live show. The show itself was adorable and the sound of children’s laughter was non-stop. Owen (7) was completely engaged the entire time. Cate decided that watching all of the little ones in the audience was as much fun as the actual show. Meeting the Kratt brothers was awesome. Chris and Martin have boundless energy and are so kind, speaking to each child individually and really taking their time with all the kids. We walked away from the experience in a great mood, with positive feelings and happy hearts.

Click here to check out the tour dates and locations!

Imperfect Produce

In my ongoing effort to make the food I buy more environmentally friendly, I recently started ordering from Imperfect Produce. In terms of environmental impact, the very best thing we can do is buy local. After that, buying food that would otherwise go to waste is pretty awesome, too. Imperfect Produce sources “ugly” and surplus produce from farmers and producers and then sells it at a discount to customers. The box of produce is delivered to your house each week. I love their mission since wasted food is something I think about all the time.

I am absolutely loving Imperfect Produce. There is minimal packaging and all of the produce we have received has been awesome and delicious. Each week an email arrives reminding me to customize my box. You can choose from whatever they have in stock that week and there is both conventional and organic produce. In addition, it tells you were each item is grown. The website is so easy to use and my new system works great: I keep a list on my phone that tells me what will be coming each Friday from Imperfect Produce so that when I go shopping at the farmer’s market and grocery store each week I don’t overbuy anything.

Imperfect Produce is expanding across the country and San Diego was one of their latest additions. Click here to visit their website and see if Imperfect Produce is in your city. I highly recommend them! (Note: Links to Imperfect Produce in this post are referral links. If you sign up using this link you and I both get a $10 credit. I have no relationship with Imperfect Produce other than being a customer and once you are a customer you can refer people, too!)

Native Deodorant Update

Remember my new favorite deodorant? I’ve been using Native for over a year now and still love it. In fact, I’m kind of addicted and have never had such a large stash of deodorant before. Their scents are just so great! Anyway, Target started carrying Native. Woohoo! Keep an eye out next time you visit Target!

Oatly Update

A few months ago I sang the praises of Oatly oat milk. Since then Oatly has become nearly impossible to buy because it’s just so darn popular (with good reason!). They had a day a few weeks ago where you could buy one case on their website. It felt like buying tickets to a concert – I had to set a reminder on my phone and it sold out within 20 minutes (I succeeding in getting a case!). I have confirmed with the Oatly team that they are building a factory here in the United States that will be opening in early 2019, which means pretty soon it will be much easier to get Oatly. I CAN’T WAIT. Good work, people. Keep the demand up! We want Oatly everywhere!

That’s all I got! Have a great weekend!

Hey meal planning compadres. I totally didn’t plan a menu last week. My apologies! But I’m back. Let’s get this menu done. I’m sick of my kids asking me what’s for dinner and not having an answer!

MONDAY:
– Rachel Sandwiches

TUESDAY:
– Grilled Chicken & Vegetable Kebabs
– Roasted Potatoes

WEDNESDAY:
– Naan Pizzas
– Salad

THURSDAY:
– Chicken Tortilla Soup

FRIDAY:
– Leftovers

SATURDAY:
– Eat out night

SUNDAY:
– Chili
– GF Cornbread (I learned I have a wheat allergy…so going to find a good cornbread recipe that doesn’t use wheat flour, wish me luck! or share a link in the comments if you have one!)

Can’t wait to see what you’ve all got cooking this week! Please share in the comments!

Oh man, it’s almost Monday night. I need to make a menu and I need to go to the store. Here we go…

MONDAY:
– Rotisserie chicken from Sprouts
– Roasted potatoes & salad

TUESDAY:
– Naan Pizzas

WEDNESDAY:
– Cora’s Mexican Ground Beef Tacos

THURSDAY:
– Kebabs on the grill
– Salad

FRIDAY:
– Leftovers

SATURDAY:
– Eat out night (Halloween fun in our cute village)

SUNDAY:
– Breakfast for dinner, probably Vegetable Frittatas

Apparently I was a cooking slacker last week because I’m pretty much using the same menu, with a few tweaks. It’s one of those weeks I suppose!

You know the drill, share your own meal plans in the comments to help all of us get inspired! Thank you!

Hello all! We’re off to see Disneyland decked out in Halloween decorations! But before hitting the road I’m getting the week’s menu square away…

MONDAY:
– Leftovers

TUESDAY:
– Naan Pizzas

WEDNESDAY:
– Grammy’s Orange Chicken
– Rice and Vegetable (whatever I find at the farmer’s market)

THURSDAY:
– Kebabs on the grill
– Salad

FRIDAY:
– Leftovers

SATURDAY:
– Breakfast for dinner, probably Vegetable Frittatas

SUNDAY:
– Eat out (Family Concert at the San Diego Symphony!)

Done! Now off to say hi to Mickey and Minnie! Be sure to share your meal plans with us in the comments below. Thank you and have a delicious week!

I’m getting this week off to a good start by getting my menu done Sunday morning. Woohoo! And we’re surprising the kids by taking them to the Wild Kratts Live show today (thanks, PBS!). Cannot wait and will report back on how the show is!

MONDAY:
– Pork Carnitas Tacos

TUESDAY:
– Brats
– Salad

WEDNESDAY:
– Roast Chicken
– Roasted Potatoes and Veggies

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Bean Nachos
– Guacamole

SATURDAY:
– Eat out

SUNDAY:
– Breakfast for dinner (details TBD)

You know the drill, share your own meal plans in the comments below! Thank you all for sharing week after week!

Happy Sunday! We had a wonderful birthday week but it was busy. Now that birthdays are done, all of the travel and events and craziness of the last 3 months is pretty much over and I am looking forward to a quiet, steady routine. Of course, the holidays are not far off! 😉

MONDAY:
– Chicken Kebabs
– Grilled Vegetables

TUESDAY:
– Pork Carnitas Tacos

WEDNESDAY:
– Grilled Salmon
– Crispy Rosemary Roast Potatoes & Salad

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Spaghetti
– Salad

SATURDAY:
– Eat out night

SUNDAY:
– Roasted Vegetable Scrambles

Meal planning friends, please post your menus in the comments below! They are incredibly helpful and inspiring to all of us!

If you’ve been around this blog for a while you know that I love making fun birthday cakes for my kids. Owen just turned 7 and it was a family year for him (the kids get friend parties on their even-numbered birthdays). In addition to it being a family year I also turned 40, so I kind of forgot about making him a cake. (WHAT?!?!?) Then, the day before his birthday, Owen was talking about his Minecraft Slime birthday cake. And I realized, “OH. I need to make a birthday cake.” There may have been a bit of panic on my part, however Minecraft saved me from a full blown panic attack because SQUARES. I looked up what Minecraft slime looks like and I was especially relieved.

This Minecraft Slime birthday cake is so easy to throw together, even a mom who forgot that she makes awesome cakes for her kids every year and had to throw together a cake last minute could do it. So, if you have a kid (or grown up) in your life who loves Minecraft, you should totally suggest this cake to them. Because you’ll knock their socks off and won’t even break a sweat doing it!

If you’re going to make this cake, I highly recommend reading my post An Amateur’s Guide to Making Super Cute Cakes before jumping in as it has lots of great tips. In addition, I used the frosting and cake recipes included in that post for this Minecraft Slime birthday cake.

How to Decorate a Minecraft Slime Birthday Cake

 

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Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• A 1- or 2-layer 8 inch square cake (I halved the cake recipe and only did a 1-layer cake, but a regular 2-layer cake works perfectly)
• Buttercream frosting (I one-and-a-half timesed the buttercream recipe I linked to above for a 1-layer cake; if you do a 2-layer cake I would recommend 3 timesing the recipe)
• Fondant
• Green food coloring (I used Wilton's Leaf Green gel food color)

Instructions

1. Please read the "Amateur's Guide" post to get tips about frosting the cake (which includes freezing the cake, doing a crumb coat, etc).
2. Frost your 8-inch square cake with light green frosting. Use a long icing spatula to make the buttercream look as flat as possible.
3. Add a lot of green food coloring to a handful of fondant - the fondant will be the same green color as the icing, but it should be darker, so keep adding color until it is darker. Massage the fondant in your hands until the green food coloring is fully incorporated.
4. Using a rolling pin, roll out the fondant into an even, semi-thin layer. When rolling the fondant, place waxed or parchment paper on the cutting board and then another piece of waxed or parchment paper on top of the fondant before rolling. Also, rolling the fondant out once and then balling it and rolling it out again is a good way to get the color to look even.
5. Cut two 2-1/2 inch squares out of the fondant using a pizza cutter. Cut one 1-1/2 inch square. Click here to download a template for the squares and placement on the cake. Place the large squares on the cake about where you would place them for eyes if the square was a face. Place the small square around where you would put a mouth, but be sure to offset the square to the right a bit.

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