Recipes to Accompany April 2009 Menu

2nd: Thai Shrimp Soup w/ Lime & Cilantro (Southbeach Recipe)

4th: Bloody Mary Flank w/ mashed potatoes, gravy & veggie (thanks to Kristin D for passing this along)

6th: Poppy Turkey
This is fabulous. I realize that the ingredients sound weird but it is delicious I promise! It's from a freezer friendly cookbook called "Once A Month Cooking," which is definitely worth checking out.

8th: Calzones or Pizza with Salad (whichever I feel like making that night)

9th: Shrimp & veggie Thai Curry over rice

For this I just loosely follow a recipe on the jar of red curry paste. Use any veggies you like. I use onion, carrots, peppers, zucchini and sometimes mushrooms and always peas (but add frozen peas at the end).S o what I do is throw in some Olive oil in the pan and let it heat up, then spoon approx 1 ½ T of curry paste till fragrant. Then add your veggies in cooking order then add a can of coconut oil and some chicken broth or clam juice. Stir 1 T corn starch w/ 1 T chicken broth (clam juice if using) and add to thicken. Sometimes I add a can of diced tomatoes. Peas and shrimp at the end. Serve over rice. It’s a general recipe and it’s different every time but that’s about how I make it. I have purchased red curry paste in a large can at the Asian market and I just freeze the remaining paste in ice cube trays and then put into a freezer bag for later use. The jar that you can purchase at Giant Eagle is fine to just keep in the jar at room temp for several months.

*FYI: Trader Joes has the best price on coconut milk @ .99 cents/can.

11th: Taco Soup w/ cheese quesadillas

12th: Cranberry Pork Roast in the crock w/ side veggie & rice

15th: Momwiches w/ fried & salad

16: Cornmeal crusted fish fillets w/ side veggie & pesto pasta

18th: BBQ Flank Steak over salad w/ corn bread

20th: TGI Friday Spicy Cajun Chicken Pasta (thanks mom)

10 ounces cooked fettuccine (cooked al dente)

1 cup Spicy Cajun Pasta Sauce (recipe follows)

1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese

1 boneless chicken breast, cooked and sliced in strips

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

Spicy Cajun Pasta Sauce:

2 ounces olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh chopped garlic

1/2 cup onion, cut in large chunks

1/2 cup green peppers, diced in large pieces

1/2 cup red peppers, diced in large pieces

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup V-8 juice

cornstarch (mix about a table spoon with a couple table spoons coldwater to form a slurry)

salt and pepper to taste

1. Prepare sauce: Heat oil in saute pan; add garlic; saute for 30seconds; add onions and saute for 1 minute; add peppers andcontinue to saute for another minute. Deglaze with chicken stockand reduce to half. Add V-8 juice and cayenne pepper; bring toboil; simmer 10 minutes.2. Thicken to consistency with cornstarch; season to taste withsalt and pepper.3. Add cooked pasta to sauce and heat through until hot.4. Arrange on serving dish and top with chicken breast. Sprinklewith Parmesan and parsley.

Serves 2 to 4

22nd: Pizza w/ pepperoni & Salad (homemade as usual)

23rd: Classic Minestrone Soup w/ hearty bread

25th: Meatloaf w/ mashed potatoes & veggie

27th: Chicken Paprika w/ salad

30th: 3 Bean Chili w/ corn bread