A Monday Menu

Disclaimer:  Do not read this post if you are in any way opposed to dishes with lots of cheese, calories, and incredible deliciousness.

Here in the Brackett house, we like to cook.  And I do mean we.  After all, Joshua wasn’t sad when we downgraded our tv package.  The “family plan” allows you to keep Food Network.

I’ve been struggling a good bit lately with how to keep us on budget and keep everybody happy.  So, this week I inventoried my freezer and fridge and planned a menu for the week that accomodates our family and our two little guests.  Well, Audrey’s not little but she eats like a six year old, so the plan works.  The other part of my plan is a desire to try some new recipes, spice up the old repertoire and pass these along to other folks who might enjoy some variety among their standard.

Disclaimer #2: The Pioneer Woman is my kitchen hero.

This weekend we thanked Joshua’s dad for all the work he did in our office (pictures, soon, I promise!) by grilling the country style ribs I found on sale at Publix.  Which was one of God’s little blessings to make up for me not realizing the ad I had prepared for started the next day and I had already driven the 40 minutes it takes to get to the nearest Publix.  But it all worked out, because Saturday night we had this for dinner….

mmmm…..barbecue sauce…. and here’s the grill master himself putting on his secret recipe….all I do to prepare this meal is buy the meat and wash the dishes.  Well, sometimes I consent to bake a potato or two. On Sunday, I decided to give this much heralded yumminess a try.  I think it turned out pretty good myself, although I could have made it faster if I’d actually read the directions before I neatly sliced all my olives.  Rough chop.  That’s all.  No need for perfection because it all comes out gooey in the end. Then maybe both slices would have been in the picture instead of having been devoured by the starving children before I could get my hands on the camera.  Yes, my kids eat olives.  By the fingerful.  And who wouldn’t eat this? Seriously, look at the cheese. You don’t even want to know what all is in this.  Let’s just say, I don’t eat olives and I ate this while standing in the kitchen putting on pizza toppings for the rest of dinner and negotiating relations between three quarrelsome little girls.  Make this immediately.  Olive Cheesebread by the Pioneer Woman.  Eat it with a salad if you feel too guilty. Here’s the pizza we also had. Obviously carbs are not a concern right now.  And here’s my cooking tip of the week.  Don’t back pizza on an airbake pan.  It won’t cook in the middle but the edges will be nice and crisp.  As you can see, we’ve got several different pizza tastes going on here. So what follows dinners like these? Ridiculously happy baby. And a few rounds of bananagrams with Aunt Audrey.  Look at this, she spelled everything right! So what’s on tap for the rest of the week?  A couple of casseroles, a meatless quiche, and a dinner for a sweet family who just got bigger.