Meal Plan Monday

It's still Monday!  Better late than never with Meal Plan Monday :-)  I have been prepping my meal plans each week, but have missed the occasional post - we've had a few long weekends, and long weekends tend to throw me off my blogging schedule a little bit (I'm usually busy having fun with the fam on that extra day off!).  

When deciding on our plan for this week, hubs asked for ham, which we haven't had since Easter.  So, ham it is...and lots of it this week!


Here is this week's meal plan:

Sunday - Ham, Smoky Scalloped Potatoes, Green Beans

Monday - Lefotover Ham, scalloped potatoes, more beans, and perogies for the kids

Tuesday - Yes...more ham.  Told you, we are on a ham kick!  And salad and perogies.

Wednesday - Pork Chops, Mixed Baby Greens Salad, Peas

Thursday - Out for dinner night - I am working late so we are having dinner brought in, and our oldest has a team pizza party after hockey practice and our youngest is having dinner with Grandma and Papa.

Friday - Creamy Ham and Potato Soup, Homemade Tea Biscuits

Saturday - Homemade Hamburgers, French Fries and Salad

I hope this helps you make your weekly meal plan too!

Meal Plan Monday

It`s time for Meal Plan Monday!  I hope that you will find some inspiration

from this week`s menu!

Sunday - Pork Roast, Smoky Scalloped Potatoes and Caramelized Brussel Sprouts

Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - Fish and Chips (Mom`s going out tonight!)

Wednesday - Slow Cooker Shredded Balsamic Vinegar Roast - as Beef Dip

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday & Saturday - we have dinner plans each night! (lucky us!)

Enjoy!

Smoky Scalloped Potatoes

At a recent family dinner I wanted to change up our potato dish.  Scalloped Potatoes are usually a hit, and I shook up the standard scalloped potato recipe a little, and I really loved the results.  Here is my recipe:

Smoky Scalloped Potatoes

5 cups potatoes, washed, peeled and sliced thinly

1/3 cup onion, minced
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
Dash red chili pepper flakes
2 cups grated cheddar cheese, divided
Paprika

Preheat oven to 350F.

Prepare a 9 x 13 baking or casserole dish (lightly greased).

In a saucepan, melt the butter and whisk in the flour.  Add in the milk and whisk again.  Add in the minced onion, salt, fresh ground pepper, garlic powder, dry mustard powder, cayenne and chili pepper flakes.  Cook on low until smooth and boiling.

Reduce heat, add in 1 1/3 cups of cheddar cheese.  Stir to melt the cheese (this will only take a moment).

Evenly place half of the sliced potatoes into your prepared baking dish. Spoon 1/3-1/2 of the cheese sauce over the potatoes.  Evenly place the remaining potatoes over the first layer and cover with the remaining cheese sauce.  Top with the remaining grated cheddar cheese and sprinkle with paprika.

Bake for 1 hour, or until potatoes are done.

VERDICT:
Unless they were lying to me, these potatoes were a hit with the family (including my parents and brother and sister-in-law and kids).  I really really likes the smoky flavour of these potatoes, as did my hubby.  They had just enough kick to shake up our standard scalloped potatoes.  Another winner in my books :-)

Recipe Recap #1

One year ago, I started this amazing ride called Addicted to Recipes.  It has been an incredible learning experience, and I have connected with so many people AROUND THE WORLD that I would never have connected with in a million years.  This has been so fun!  I am pretty sure that my family has enjoyed the ride too, though it is a little funny that they ask first if a photo needs to be taken before we can eat.  Joking aside, they have enjoyed the fruits of my labour, and we have found so many new recipes to try. 

I thought no better way to celebrate my year than to look back.  I'll share updates to any recipes that I may have.  Here we go with Recipe Recap #1, for the week of January 27 - February 2, 2012.  Please head on over and check these recipes out! (Click on the title to take you to the recipe)

Sweet and Spicy Double Cooked Baby Back Ribs
This rib recipe is still the #1 rib recipe in our house.  We don't indulge on ribs very often, but when we do, 90% of the time we use this recipe (the other 10%, to try something different!)

Blueberry Bran Muffins (Click on the title to take you to the recipe)
I am not surprised that one of my first posts was about muffins!  

Ham and Scalloped Potatoes (Click on the title to take you to the recipe)
Still a traditional meal.  We don't have ham often, but when we do, we do enjoy it!

Hearty Ham and Split Pea Soup (Click on the title to take you to the recipe)
What does one do with leftover ham?  Make soup, of course!  Funny, I have ham in the freezer to make this soup again very soon :-)

I hope you enjoyed this week's Recipe Recap.  Tune in next Tuesday for another round!