February Menu Plan

I don't know about you, but I have at least 600 recipes pinned on Pinterest.  I have only tried about 10.  One of my resolutions this year is to try at least one new recipe a month.  This month I have four in the meal rotation - Turkey Breast of Wonder, Chicken and Bacon Lasagna Roll Ups, Skinny Orange Chicken, and Baked Parmesean Chicken.  Links to all four recipes are included below.  Once again, any recipes that have a link will show up in a different color.  Just click on them to get the recipe and try it for yourself.  I had some carry over from January's meals too.  My father in law surprised us with dinner at a restaurant during his visit, which was great, but it left me with a lot of BBQ pulled chicken to use up.  I decided to save the Honey Lime Enchiladas and the Meatloaf and Potatoes for February; that's why you see them in the rotation again this month.  Happy Cooking!

SAT	02/01	Minestrone w/ French Bread
SUN	02/02	Turkey Breast of Wonder w/ Stuffing
MON	02/03	LEFTOVERS - Minestrone
TUE	02/04	Honey Lime Enchiladas - FREEZER
WED	02/05	LEFTOVERS – Turkey w/Stuffing
THU	02/06	Chicken Fried Rice
FRI	02/07	Breakfast for Dinner
SAT	02/08	LEFTOVERS – Honey Lime Enchiladas
SUN	02/09	Chicken and Bacon Lasagna Roll Ups
MON	02/10	California Pizza Kitchen Chicken BBQ Salad
TUE	02/11	LEFTOVERS – Lasagna Roll Ups
WED	02/12	ROLL OVER – BBQ Chicken Quesadillas
THU	02/13	Crock Pot Sloppy Joes
FRI	02/14	DATE NIGHT – Kids have Heart Shaped Pizza
SAT	02/15	LEFTOVERS – Sloppy Joes
SUN	02/16	Meatloaf with Funeral Potatoes - FREEZER
MON	02/17	Skinny Orange Chicken
TUE	02/18	LEFTOVERS – Meatloaf
WED	02/19	Chicken Lettuce Wraps
THU	02/20	LEFTOVERS – Orange Chicken
FRI	02/21	Spaghetti
SAT	02/22	LEFTOVERS – Lettuce Wraps
SUN	02/23	Baked Parmesean Garlic Chicken
MON	02/24	LEFTOVERS – Spaghetti
TUE	02/25	Turkey Soup - FREEZER
WED	02/26	LEFTOVERS – Parmesean Chicken
THU	02/27	Honey Lime Tilapia
FRI	02/28	LEFTOVERS – Turkey Soup

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

How could bread not turn out great with a helper as cute as this?  Annie is taking an interest in cooking and loves to help me on bread days.  I make this recipe at least once a week in our house.  The two loaves last us from 6-8 days.  I keep one out and store one in the freezer for later in the week.

I got this recipe from my friend Sue Walker in Meridian, Idaho.  Jeremy and I had been married for five years and we were living in our first home.  My only previous attempts at bread making involved a bread machine and a mix.  I was certain I was not a wheat bread fan.  As part of a Relief Society activity, Sue hosted a small group of wannabe breadmakers in her home for a class on baking bread.  She taught me about wheat grinders, honey storage, proofing yeast, kneading dough......you name it!  At the end of the class we got to have a hot slice of bread covered in butter and honey.  I was sold!  I had never had such yummy bread.  I made my first loaves of bread the very next day.  It has been over ten years since that class.  I am so thankful for Sue and her patience in teaching all of us.  It feels so good to make bread for my own family.  I hope my children will continue to bake bread in their homes once they're grown.

I use a Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook attachment to make this recipe.  See the photo of Annie, the dough hook is the white thing on the left.  It can be done in other machines or by hand but since I don't have a lot of experience trying it without my mixer, you'll have to experiment with your own machine.  Do not use a hand held mixer for any kind of bread dough.  It will kill the motor on your mixer.

Are you ready to try?  Here's the recipe I got from Sue.  If you still feel uncertain about bread, give me a call and we can do it together.  There's nothing like a hands on lesson if you're not very experienced with wheat dough.

Sue Walker’s Whole Wheat Bread - makes two loaves

6 c.       fresh ground whole wheat flour (½ red, ½ white) – or use store bought whole wheat flour; Separate into 3 ½ cups and 2 ½ cups quantities - more or less may be needed, some days I use 7 cups

1/3 c.    vital wheat gluten  (available in bulk food section of Winco or the bread aisle in Broulim's)

1 1/2  T.   instant yeast, I prefer the SAF brand

2 ½ c.   hot water (120 degrees)

1 T.       salt

1/3 c.    oil

1/3 c.    honey

1 1/2 T.   lemon juice from concentrate

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  In mixer bowl, stir together 3 ½ cups flour with gluten and yeast.  Add the hot water all at once and mix with a rubber spatula for one minute, scraping sides – get everything wet.  Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rest for 10-20 minutes.  After 10 minutes, the mixture should be puffy and bubbly, almost double in size.  If it is not bubbly, let rest for another 5-10 minutes. 
• Add salt, oil, honey, and lemon juice, and mix with dough hook on low speed for one minute.  Add remaining 2-2 ½ cups flour about a cup at a time, mixing well at low speed between each addition.  The dough should be starting to pull away from the sides of the bowl, almost forming a ball, more or less flour may be needed. Scrape down sides of bowl to encourage dough to hold together. Turn the oven off. 
• Beat/knead dough on low speed (2 or 4 on my Kitchen Aid) for 7-10 minutes – until dough leaves the sides of the bowl clean and forms an elastic ball. You may need to add more flour, a Tablespoon at a time until the dough stops sticking to the bowl.  The dough will be like a soft, tacky ball. 
• Turn dough onto oiled counter top. I just spray a little section of my counter with cooking spray.  Divide into two equal portions, shape into loaves and place in oiled pans (I use Pyrex 8 x 4 pans).  Let rise in the (turned off) warm oven for 15-30 minutes, until dough reaches the top of the pans. 
• While loaves are still in the oven, turn oven to 350 degrees and set timer for 35 minutes.  Once the timer goes off, remove pans from oven and let cool on racks.  Remove from pans as soon as possible so your bread doesn't sweat and get a soggy exterior. 

January Menu Plan

This is the dinner menu plan for our family this month.  Anything with (FREEZER) next to it means I have the complete meal or its main ingredient already made and waiting for me in the freezer.  Hooray for freezer meals!  We eat leftovers two or three times a week because our kids are still so small, they just don't eat a lot yet.  And to be honest, I don't want to be in the kitchen whipping up a complete meal from scratch every night.  Jeremy likes to have a sandwich for his lunches at work which allows me to use leftovers for another dinner.  Any meals with a recipe that can be accessed online will have a link.  The links are in a lighter color font and will turn red when you scroll over them.  Other recipes will be added here.....eventually!  Let me know which ones you want to see so I can add those first.

WED	01/01	Smoked Sausage with Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
THU	01/02	Chicken Enchiladas (FREEZER)
FRI	01/03	LEFTOVERS – Enchiladas
SAT	01/04	Baked Garlic Chicken with white rice
SUN	01/05	Potato Bacon soup with French bread
MON	01/06	LEFTOVERS – Potato soup
TUE	01/07	Quesadillas filled with taco meat and beans
WED	01/08	Thanksgiving Leftover Casserole (FREEZER)
THU	01/09	LEFTOVERS – Thanksgiving Casserole
FRI	01/10	Chicken Taco Soup (FREEZER)
SAT	01/11	LEFTOVERS – Chicken Taco Soup
SUN	01/12	Poppyseed Chicken with Rice (FREEZER)
MON	01/13	LEFTOVERS – Poppyseed Chicken
TUE	01/14	Shepherd’s Pie (FREEZER)
WED	01/15	LEFTOVERS – Shepherd’s Pie
THU	01/16	Breakfast for Dinner
FRI	01/17	DATE NIGHT - kids have Ravioli with Marinara
SAT	01/18	BBQ Baked Chicken with Confetti Corn
SUN	01/19	Meatball Subs (FREEZER)
MON	01/20	Twice Baked Potatoes (FREEZER)
TUE	01/21	LEFTOVERS – Potatoes
WED	01/22	Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas (FREEZER)
THU	01/23	Pasta Alfredo (FREEZER)
FRI	01/24	LEFTOVERS – Honey Lime Enchiladas
SAT	01/25	Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Chicken Soup
SUN	01/26	Creamy Italian Chicken (FREEZER)
MON	01/27	Beans and Rice
TUE	01/28	Meatloaf with Potato Casserole (FREEZER)
WED	01/29	LEFTOVERS – Italian Chicken
THU	01/30	Dinner Party – kids have Mac&Cheese or Pizza
FRI	01/31	LEFTOVERS – Meatloaf and Potatoes