KJ's Ladies

Around KJ's Table: September 5th- September 11th

Let's start out with a moment to remember

It was also the first day of school this week:

And back to prep-ahead meals since all my cooks have been taken away on the school bus!

So here is the menu for this week: 09.05.21-09.11.21 Weekly Menu

Greek Chicken with Dill Yogurt Sauce: in large gallon bag prep chicken thighs with olive oil and greek seasoning all over. Prepare 1 container of plain greek yogurt (d/f for me) and 3 tbsp dill in small container. At dinner time put chicken on sheet pan to cook at 350 for 30 minutes with two lemons cut in half (put half side down on sheet pan). When chicken is done squeeze 3 cooked lemons all over the chicken and add last 1/2 half lemon to your pre-prepared yogurt sauce. Serve with romaine salad and warm pitas.

BLT pizza: cook bacon night before or at beginning of week to have crumbled bacon for recipes. Day of unroll refrigerated pizza crust (Pillsbury is my favorite) brush with olive oil, italian seasonings and garlic powder. Top with baby spinach, thinly sliced roma tomatoes (about 2-3) and crumbled bacon and mozzarella cheese (I use d/f). Bake at 425 for 8-10 minutes.

Korean Venison Bowls: in large gallon bag put 1 lb browned venison, 6 tbsp soy sauce, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tbsp sesame oil, tiny bit of crushed red pepper, ginger, 3 cloves minced garlic, and 3 green onions sliced. At dinner time, pour bag into skillet, bring to warm simmer. Cook rice and steam broccoli. Pour venison mixture over rice.

Crispy Ranch Pork Chops: prepare sheet pan of dredged pork chops (panko bread crumbs mixed with ranch dressing mix (I make my own d/f kind) in one plate, ranch dressing (I use d/f) in another plate) Cover with saran wrap and then at dinner time bring to room temp and bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Serve with angel hair pasta with herbs and peas.

Meatloaf: Here is my mom's recipe for meatloaf that I love. I usually add 1/2 jar of salsa to the meat instead of chopped onions and ketchup tho. Just make meatloaf ahead of time and wrap in saran wrap.

At dinnertime, add glaze and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.

Non-Prep Weekend Meal:

Lemon Artichoke Chicken and Orzo: Cook orzo according to package. Cook chicken thighs and 2 cans of artichoke hearts with liquid on sheet pan in oven at 350 for 35-45 minutes. Zest and juice lemons. Add to orzo along with a handful of spinach. Serve with cooked chicken.

**BONUS**

Tequila Sunrise:

1 1/2 oz tequila (I like vodka better)

3 oz orange juice

1 oz grapefruit juice

2 oz tangerine or orange flavored sparkling water

1 tsp grenadine

Around KJ's Table: August 29th- September 4th

Another work-a-day week for us. The girls and my parents finished up painting the living room and also painted the office for us! We are slowly checking off projects around the house before summer gets too much behind us. We also got to see our nephew celebrate his wedding after a 2-year delay. It was a beautiful wedding. Here are some pics for you:

But on to why you are here, the menu: 08.29.21- 09.04.21 Weekly Menu

Cheeseburger Bowls: this is a fun and easy summer meal. Think salad with burger on top.

1 head of iceberg lettuce, chopped

1 lbs of ground meat (venison or beef or turkey) browned with favorite burger seasonings

1-2 roma tomatoes

1/2 cup dill pickles

1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 pkg frozen onion rings

Homemade Russian dressing

Evenly divided chopped lettuce, top with tomatoes, meat, pickles and cheese. Cook onion rings in airfryer, put on top of bowls. Drizzle with russian dressing... yummmmm

Ham and Macaroni Casserole: This is a great make ahead recipe. I got this from a friend years ago... (substitute coconut milk for milk, use d/f American cheese and plant butter)

Homemade Chicken Nuggets: another "favorite" in our home. Pretty simple...

boneless chicken cut into 1 inch cubes

1 plate of flour

1 plate of eggs (usually 2) beaten

1 plate of panko bread crumbs, parm cheese (I use d/f), and spices (I use paprika, pepper, salt, garlic, onion, tiny bit of crushed red pepper)

Dredge chicken in the three plates. Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes.

Smoked Wild Turkey: ok this one was an experiment...this spring Meghan shot her first turkey and it needed cooking... I knew I wanted to try smoking it in our smoker for awhile but just needed to study and a day to smoke...and I found one, since the parents were here painting, I decided to have them for dinner.

I used this recipe as my base. Orange Clove Smoked Wild Turkey

So I had KJ spachcock the turkey (cut the back bone so the turkey lays flat), and I brined the whole turkey for 24 hours in the above brine recipe that I multiplied by 10 since the recipe is only for breasts. I also added some water to this recipe to make sure the entire turkey was covered.

Then I rinsed the turkey and used the same flavors (rosemary, sage, orange, etc) and covered the bird with the spice rub. I then put the spachcocked turkey in the smoker with orange juice for my liquid, and used hickory for the chips, and smoked the turkey for 6 hours.

Then I brought the turkey in and let her rest while I basted her with a brown sugar/water glaze for 20-30 minutes, since wild turkey is so dry I wanted to be sure to add some moisture back in while she cooled.

Wow! was that a good turkey!

Perogies and Mac and Cheese: all from the freezer and it was boxed mac and cheese! 😏

There ya have it... have fun at the stove!

Around KJ's Table: August 22nd- August 28th

This week was a typical week for us, here, but soon we will heading into school and lots of prep-ahead coming!

But for now here is the menu: 08.23.21-08.29.21 Weekly Menu

Chef Salad: which is pretty self-explanatory but I do love to make my own homemade Russian dressing for this.

Venison Stroganoff: I basically used a ground beef stroganoff recipe and upgraded for our c/f home so:

1 pkg egg noodles

2 lbs ground beef (or ground beef if you don't have a cow allergy)

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

1 can chicken broth (or beef broth if you don't have a cow allergy)

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp dijon mustard

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

8 oz plain coconut yogurt (or sour cream if you aren't d/f)

Cook noodles. Brown ground beef with pepper and oil. Whisk together the chicken broth, tomato paste, mustard and worcestershire sauce add to the meat. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add yogurt and cook until heated. Serve with noodles.

Labor Day Chicken: which is what my family calls a vinegar based marinade for chicken. Why you ask? Well...typically will have this chicken at summer holiday picnics. When I asked them one day what they wanted for dinner they said that chicken you made on Labor Day, and ever since then it has affectionately been called Labor Day chicken in our home. This recipe has also been known by others as Firehouse chicken, Speadie Chicken, Brook's Chicken, or Cornell Chicken. All of it is very similar. As you can see this is a well loved recipe:

Raspberry Glazed Pork Chops: so this is not as complicated as it sounds. Basically buy some Shake and Bake and boneless pork chops. Bread the chops and bake as directed on the box. Then take a jar of seedless raspberry jam and thin it out with some balsamic vinegar and heat it up. Viola! a nice drizzle of raspberry on your breaded pork chops.

Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs: this one is a bit labor intensive, but a great prep ahead meal. I have tried this recipe with store bought meatballs... not as good... make the meatballs from scratch... you will thank me.

Taco Pie: this is a recipe I got from a friend years ago:

Creamy Vegetable Rigatoni: this was an older E-Meal recipe. It was super yummy!

There you have it folks! Have fun cooking this week.

Around KJ's Table: August 15th-August 22nd (ROAD TRIP)

First and foremost- no menu this week! We were on a road trip all week and KJs Table looks much different as we were out and about. But I thought you might like to see some of our doings and eatings:

After a long day of travel one must have Chick-Fila and a hot tub: