New Meal Plan that I'm not quite to yet.

This is Amelia, my niece. Isn't she just the cutest thing you ever saw?!?

I made a meal plan and went grocery shopping last Tuesday because Kyle was going 4-wheeling with Brandon this past Wednesday and Wednesdays are the day I normally try to go grocery shopping on the weeks I need to go. I wasn't quite done with my previous meal plan, but close enough, I figured. Well I STILL have 2 meals left on it. I haven't made the Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup or the White Chicken Chili Enchiladas. They'll be the first to go this week.

I did brown up a ton of beef and venison and I did a turkey breast in the crockpot. I got 9 cups of turkey, so I put it into 4 (2 cup +) baggies for future use. I'll use one of them for the Enchiladas.

I had a friend and her three boys over for lunch one day so I made Shanna's Pumpkin Cheesecake for dessert and it turned out GREAT!.

So. This meal plan.

Chinese (using the new sauce I bought at An Affair of the Heart)

Ricotta and Ham Stuffed Chicken

Ravioli Lasagna

Chili (making it with all deer meat)

Beef and Black Been Burritos

Tac-a-roni

Easy Chicken and Pasta

Crockpot Tomato Basil Chicken

Calzones

Spaghetti

Extras: cookies to restock my freezer supply.

The baked Ziti from my last meal plan turned out really well. It was a recipe I found through a blog and will be one I'll definitely make again.

Baked Ziti

1lb ground beef

1 c chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (32oz) jar spaghetti sauce

1 cup chicken broth

1 tsp. oregano

1 (16oz) pkg Ziti, cooked just shy of al dente

2 c mozzarella, shredded

1 c Parmesan, shredded

Preheat oven to 350. In a large skillet brown beef, onions and garlic. Stir in sauce, broth and oregano and simmer for 10 minutes. (I used a 28oz jar of sauce and used water to make up the difference and it still turned out great). Stir 1 c of sauce into cooked ziti noodles ( I used Penne, any short cut pasta would be fine). Put 1/2 of ziti into a 9X13. Sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups mozzarella and 1/2 c Parmesan. Top with 2 cups sauce, remaining ziti and then remaining sauce. cover with foil and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and top with remaining cheese and bake until cheese is melted.

Shanna's Pumpkin Cheesecake

Vanilla wafers or graham crackers

1 c ground pecan pieces

1 stick melted butter

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2lbs cream cheese, softened

1 cup brown sugar

6 eggs

1/2 c heavy cream

1/2 c flour

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350. Combine crumbs, pecans, and butter. (I used the teddy graham crust recipe that I like instead). Press into a 12" spring form pan (this is a HUGE recipe!!) Mix cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and blend. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated. Add heavy cream. Add flour salt, cinnamon and vanilla and blend until smooth. And puree and blend. Bake 1 hr 15 min or until set. Serve with whipped cream.

This cheesecake turned out so well. I only have a 9" spring form so I filled that and still had a ton leftover. I had a packet of oreo crumbs so I made that up into a crust in a glass pie plate and pured the rest of the cheesecake mixture into that. So I had a 9" traditional cheesecake and a 9" "pie" cheesecake. TONS of cheesecake. More than we needed. I wasn't thinking when I didn't even send Sara home with any! (BTW...I met her at Body and Soul and she's from Nebraska...so we're Husker fans together down here!) I also used the pumpkin that I had pureed myself earlier that was in the deep freeze. I still have some left so I guess I'll just have to keep baking =)