[menu plan Monday]

Here's our menu for this week...

Sunday - Grilled Cheese (McKayslin had grilled cheese and an apple.  I had grilled cheese and some smoked salmon.  Luke had grilled turkey and cheese).

Monday - Waffles, Bubba Syrup, Sausage, Eggs

Tuesday - Porcupines, Biscuits, Green Beans

Wednesday - Baked Salmon, Mashed Potatoes, Corn, Scones

Thursday - Homemade Fish and "Chips"

Friday - Spaghetti and Meatballs, homemade French Bread, Corn

Saturday - Hamburger Gravy over Rice, Green Beans, Rolls

Waffles

Whisk together 2 eggs and 1 3/4 cups milk.
Add 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup oil, 1 TBSP brown sugar, 4 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt.

Beat until smooth.

Cook on a hot waffle iron until steam stops.

Makes 6 large waffles.

Bubba Syrup

In a saucepan combine 1 stick butter, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup buttermilk, 1 tsp white corn syrup.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.  Stop stirring and boil 1 minute.  Remove from heat.  Stir in 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp baking soda.  Syrup will foam up and get bubbly.

Porcupines

Combine 1 pound ground beef with 1/3 cup uncooked rice, 1/4 cup chopped onion, 1/4 cup water, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper.  Mix well and form into meatballs.  (This is super easy to double and then freeze the other half of the meatballs at this point).
In a deep skillet with a tight fitting lid, combine 1 can tomato soup, 1/2 tsp chili powder and 1 cup water.  Heat to boiling.  Reduce heat.  Add the meatballs.  Cover and simmer, stirring frequently for about an hour until the rice is tender and the meatballs are cooked through.

If you're using the frozen porcupines, mix the sauce ingredients and put the sauce and frozen meatballs into the crock pot.  Cook on high 2-3 hours or low 4-6 hours, stirring when you get a chance.

Biscuits

Mix together 1 3/4 cups flour, 1 1/2 TBSP sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp cream of tartar.  Use a pastry blender to cut in 6 TBSP cold butter.  Do NOT overmix.  The butter should be little globs throughout the flour mixture.
Add 1 egg and 1/2 cup milk.  Stir just until combined.

On a well floured surface, knead about 15 turns of the dough, kneading in enough flour for a very soft but non-sticky dough.

Pat dough about an inch to and inch and a half thick.  Cut with a glass or biscuit cutter to make only 8 biscuits.

Bake at 450* until golden brown and the middle is no longer doughy.

Cool about 5 minutes on the baking sheet before serving.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

For the sauce...

In a large pot, saute' 1/2 chopped onion and 2 tsp minced garlic in a little bit of oil until soft and fragrant.

Stir in 28 oz. crushed tomatoes and 16 oz. tomato sauce.

Add 2 tsp dried parsley, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/2 - 1 tsp dried oregano (or Italian Seasoning), 2 tsp salt, and 2 TBSP sugar.

Bring to a slow boil, stirring frequently.  Reduce heat to a simmer and let simmer for an hour or more.

For the meatballs...

Combine 1 pound ground beef with 1 TBSP minced dried onion, 1 tsp season salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 1/4 cup oats, 1 egg, and 1/4 cup water.

Mix well.  Form into meatballs.

Bake at 350* until nearly done.

Add to the sauce and simmer together while you cook the noodles.

We like the leftover meatballs and sauce as meatball subs.  Or if there is only leftover sauce and no meatballs, I freeze the leftover sauce to use in tomato macaroni soup.

French Bread

Mix 1 tsp SAF instant yeast with 1 tsp sugar and 1 1/2 cups warm water.  Let proof until bubbly (about 5-10 minutes).

Add 1 1/2 tsp salt and 2 cups flour.  Mix well.

(I use my small Bosch for this - there's not enough dough for the big Bosch, but a Kitchen-Aide would work fine.  You could also do this by hand).

Mix in 2 more cups flour.  Knead about 8 minutes.  The dough will be fairly stiff.

Let rest until doubled (about an hour).

Divide into equal portions (1 big loaf, 2 skinnier baguette type loaves, or our favorite, 8 hoagie size buns).  Shape.  Place on a Silpat lined cookie sheet to rise about 30 minutes.

With a knife, slash each loaf 2 times - carefully and quickly.

Gently brush each loaf with water (use a pastry brush).  This will give the bread that chewy, crispy crust.

Bake at 400* until golden brown and the loaves sound hollow when tapped.  This will take anywhere from 15-25 minutes depending on your oven and the size of your loaves.

We also like to eat this bread hot from the oven dipped into a mixture of 1 stick melted butter, 1 tsp dried parsley, and 2 tsp minced garlic.