Nate got a Traeger smoker grill for Christmas and that was for real the best idea EVER. He has already smoked a small pork shoulder and it was so good that at 10 pm last night when it was finally done we all just gathered around the meat and ate and ate and ate. Tonight he’s smoking brats. And he has two more smoked meats coming this week. Merry Christmas to all of us!

MONDAY:

• Smoked Pork Shoulder

TUESDAY:

• Pork Luau Bowls (Hello Fresh)

WEDNESDAY:

• Chicken Stir Fry Tacos (Hello Fresh)

THURSDAY: Happy New Year’s Eve!

• Smoked Flank Steak
• Crispy Roast Potatoes
• Salad 

FRIDAY:

• Leftovers

SATURDAY:

• Coconut Curry Chicken (Hello Fresh)

SUNDAY:

• Tex Mex Pork Enchiladas Bowls (Hello Fresh)

Share your own menu in the comments below! Have a safe and happy new year!

Today I am awake before the rest of the family so I can make sugar cookie dough. The kids have a gingerbread house decorating station set up on the dining room table and it seems a shame to just clean it up since it could so easily be converted into a cookie decorating station. So, time to bake!

Every year when I go to find my favorite sugar cookie recipe on AllRecipes, it takes me a good five minutes of searching and ultimately panicking before I find the recipe. I am putting an end to the panic right now. This blog is my recipe box and it is time to add this recipe card. This is not my recipe and I literally follow it to a T every year. The recipe is perfect. So, I am giving all the credit to “J. Saunders” on AllRecipes. However, it is time I posted this recipe here on the blog to prevent future heart attacks!

Also, if you want a good chocolate sugar cookie recipe, click here. And, yes, I am making both this morning.

Happy Holidays! 

The Best Sugar Cookie Recipe

 

Print

My notes are in italics below, but honestly this recipe is perfect! Originally posted on AllRecipes.

Author: J. Saunders submitted to AllRecipes

Ingredients

• 1½ cups butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. (Jane note: for the stirring portion I just use my KitchenAid mixer on low.)
2. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight). (Jane note: I divide the dough into two and form two large, thick discs, about 2" thick, and wrap them in plastic wrap to refrigerate. It helps to have wet hands when forming the discs. This makes the dough easier to work with after chilling.)
3. Preheat oven to 400º F (200º C).
4. Roll out dough on floured surface, ¼- to ½-inch thick. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters.
5. Place cookies 1 inch apart on un-greased cookie sheets. (Jane note: I use my silicon baking mats to bake these)
6. Bake 6 – 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

3.4.3177

Well, birthday week was a blast and a success and completely wiped me out! 😉 Now on to Christmas this week! 

MONDAY:

• Coconut Curry Chicken (Hello Fresh)

TUESDAY:

• Spicy Maple Chicken (Hello Fresh)

WEDNESDAY:

• Honey Sriracha Pork Tenderloin (Hello Fresh)

THURSDAY:

• Chinese Takeout (a Maynard family tradition!)

FRIDAY:

• Swedish Meatballs with boiled red potatoes and lingonberry jam
• Swedish Cardamom Bread, Vetebröd (braided loaves) and Kardemummabullar (buns) 

SATURDAY:

• Leftovers

SUNDAY:

• Leftovers

Your turn! Please share your meal plan for the week in the comments below! And if you celebrate Christmas, I hope it is a healthy, peaceful and delicious day!

It’s a big birthday week around here! Two birthdays, so the birthday girls get to pick dinner. Plus we’re still leveraging Hello Fresh heavily. 😉

MONDAY:

• Firecracker Meatballs with Rice and Green Beans 

TUESDAY:

• Spicy Maple Chicken

WEDNESDAY:

• Cheesecake Factory Takeout (birthday dinner #1!)

THURSDAY:

• Thai Takeout (birthday dinner #2)

FRIDAY:

• Leftovers

SATURDAY:

• Ancho BBQ Sloppy Joe’s

SUNDAY:

• Honey Sriracha Pork Tenderloin

Please share your own menu plan in the comments below! Have a great week and Happy Hanukkah to those of your celebrating!

Hello again! I hope you all had a wonderful and delicious Thanksgiving! Apologies for missing the menu last week, I just plain forgot to plan because we had a major backup of meal kits thanks to our Thanksgiving food. I am still relying on meal kits for the next few weeks, but around Christmastime I am going to get back into cooking my own recipes again! The Hello Fresh meal kits have been so wonderful during this time where my cooking abilities were limited.

MONDAY:

• Pecan-Crusted Trout (a friend gave me a Green Chef box to try…Green Chef was good, but I like Hello Fresh better, for what it’s worth!)

TUESDAY:

• Tex Mex Beef & Poblano Enchiladas (Hello Fresh)

WEDNESDAY:

• Firecracker Meatballs (Hello Fresh)

THURSDAY:

• Hot Honey Chicken (Hello Fresh)

FRIDAY:

• NYC Street Cart Steak Bowls (Hello Fresh)

SATURDAY:

• Local Takeout (San Diego is back on lockdown…gotta make sure to keep on supporting local restaurants!)

SUNDAY:

• Roasted Butterfly Chicken

Your turn! Share your weekly menu in the comments below. Have a great week, everyone!

THANKSGIVING IS THIS WEEK HOW IS THIS SO?!?!? Miraculously I graduated from the hard splint from my hand surgery, so while my thumb doesn’t work yet and I still have to be careful, I will be able to help cook Thanksgiving dinner! The girls and Nate are ready to help with the cooking this year. While I’m sad we won’t be with extended family (COVID!), I think it will be a special year, all of us cooking together in the kitchen. I did make a few store-bought modifications to our menu to simplify cooking, but for the most part we are still cooking up our usual feast!

MONDAY:

• Beef Bulgogi Meatballs (HelloFresh)

TUESDAY:

• Pork Tostadas Supremo (HelloFresh)

WEDNESDAY:

• Pineapple Pork Meatballs (HelloFresh)

THURSDAY | Thanksgiving 2020!

• 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 (full disclosure we are using Trader Joe’s stuffing mixes – cornbread and gluten-free – because of my darn hand)
• Gravy
• Crescent Rolls 
• Cranberry Slush (my great-grandmother’s recipe that we have EVERY YEAR NO MATTER WHAT)
• Cranberry Sauce
• Sweet Potato Souffle
• Butternut Squash
• Charcuterie Board
• Dessert: Pumpkin Pie, Crumble Apple Pie, Chocolate Mousse (we actually bought the pumpkin pie and apple pie this year because I just can’t do pie crust with my hand, but we will for sure make the chocolate mousse from scratch!)

FRIDAY:

• Leftovers

SATURDAY:

• Leftovers

SUNDAY:

• Leftovers

Please share your weekly menu in the comments, including your Thanksgiving menu plans! Have a happy and delicious Thanksgiving and please stay safe!!!

Wow. SEVEN HUNDRED weekly menus! Thank you to everyone who posts and for keeping me on the ball week after week. I am so grateful for our community!

Given my hand surgery situation, this week I’m going to start planning Thanksgiving to try to figure out how to do our food traditions but without the amount of cooking I normally do. Any suggestions are appreciated!

MONDAY:

• Sweet Chili Pork Bowls (Hello Fresh)

TUESDAY:

• Chicken Tikka Masala (Costco)

WEDNESDAY:

• Bulgogi Pork Tenderloin (Hello Fresh)

THURSDAY:

• Rosemary Demi-Glace Pork Chops (Hello Fresh)

FRIDAY:

• Leftovers

SATURDAY:

• Takeout Night

SUNDAY:

• Chicken Sausage and Tomato Risotto (Hello Fresh)

Your turn! Share your menus in the comments below! And Happy 700th Menu Week to all!

Hello everyone! With the help of Hello Fresh (which we are loving, by the way!) and Costco, our family is figuring out dinner as I recover from hand surgery.. Just a few more weeks (hopefully!) with me out of commission.

MONDAY:

• Cheesy Smothered Mushroom Chicken (Hello Fresh)

TUESDAY:

• Zesty Salmon with rice and salad

WEDNESDAY:

• Ancho BBQ Sloppy Joes (Hello Fresh)

THURSDAY:

• Italian Chicken over Lemony Spaghetti (Hello Fresh)

FRIDAY:

• Leftovers

SATURDAY:

• Sweet Chili Pork Bowls (Hello Fresh)

SUNDAY:

• Stuffed Turkey Breasts (Costco)

Your turn! Share your menus in the comments below! Have a delicious week!

WOW. I completely spaced planning and posting a menu last week. I didn’t even realize until Wednesday or Thursday! This probably is a good indication of where our family is with dinner these days…flying by the seat of our pants! I am still unable to cook, so we’re utilizing Costco and Trader Joe’s meals to at least make it feel a little like eating dinner at home instead of just takeout all the time. Here’s a go at a menu…

MONDAY:

• Pesto Chicken Pasta

TUESDAY:

• Chicken Salad Sandwiches

WEDNESDAY:

• Homemade Hamburgers

THURSDAY:

• Cheesy Smothered Mushroom Chicken (Hello Fresh meal)

FRIDAY:

• Sesame Beef Tacos (Hello Fresh meal)

SATURDAY:

• Local Takeout Night

SUNDAY:

• Chipotle Chicken and Rice Bowls (Hello Fresh meal)

PLEASE share your menus below! We need your dinner ideas to inspire while I’m in this strange cooking time! Thank you!

Also, I signed up for Hello Fresh to see if it can help during this crazy time for our family. I’ll keep you posted! If you want to try it out, click here to check Hello Fresh out via my referral link, which gives you $70 off and me a $10 credit.

Well. Our family is figuring out how to dinner now that I am out of commission. I had hand surgery earlier this week and began physical therapy, which will be very intense. I highly recommend not severing any tendons in your hand if you can at all help it.

I don’t have access at this moment to my artwork files, which I can update tomorrow. But here is what dinner is looking like this week with Nate and the kids in charge after a visit to Costco.

MONDAY:

• Salmon with lemon-basil butter (Costco!)

TUESDAY:

• Grilled Tri-Tip with salad

WEDNESDAY:

• Chicken Tikka Masala 

THURSDAY:

• Stuffed Roast Turkey 

FRIDAY:

• Leftovers

SATURDAY:

• Takeout night

SUNDAY:

• Grill Night

Your turn! Please share your menus below!!