Meal Planning: Week of September 29th

Review from last week:

I failed to take that many pictures this week...and this week was also kind of light on cooking!  I DID, however, bake my all time favorite pumpkin cookies because it's FALL and it's RAINING and life is good. (Shout out to Callie for introducing these into my life the day Ben was born - I make them several times each Fall now)!

I recently found a slightly modified recipe because I didn't have any Crisco on hand and the end result tasted EXACTLY like the original ones I've been making for 3 years now.

SOFT PUMPKIN SUGAR COOKIES

Here's what you will need:
4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used sunflower oil and they tasted great)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs

For the Glaze:
3 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons half & half (or milk)
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and spices; set aside. In another large bowl, beat together the butter, oil, pumpkin, sugars, vanilla, and eggs. Mix until smooth. Then, slowly mix in the dry ingredient until completely incorporated.

Using a 1 1/2 tablespoon scoop, place the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or a silicone baking mat). Use a glass to flatten the dough to about 1/2 inch thick. (If the dough sticks, press the bottom of the class in granulated sugar before flattening the dough.) Bake for 8-9 minutes.

Once baked, transfer the cookies to a cutting board to cool.

While the cookies cool, prepare the glaze. Whisk together all of the ingredients until smooth. If your glaze is too thick, add more milk. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar.

Once the cookies are cool, use a spoon and spread glaze over top of each cookie. Let the glaze harden before serving or packing away.

Recipe from www.inspiredbycharm.com 

But back to dinner:

The Chicken Pot Pie served as dinner 2 nights and lunch 2 days - gotta love that.  I joined Rachel for Indian take out on Sunday and loved it so much that Greg and I got it again on Wednesday night :)

I messed up and purchased ingredients for Santa Fe Chicken instead of Chicken Tortilla Soup, but oh well - Greg likes this one more anyway.  It also served as leftovers for a night.

We also finally ate the beef and broccoli (Trader Joe's) that has been in my meal plan for weeks :)

Tonight I am hoping to go out to eat because I haven't grocery shopped yet and this weather has me feeling a little cooped up!

Plan for next week:

Saturday: Going to make something with chicken - I'll throw together using whatever we have.  Hoping it will be the blackened chile-dusted chicken we didn't make last week, but this chicken parmigiana also looks pretty bomb. 

Sunday: Lisa and Evan are coming over for dinner - rescheduled from a few weeks back.  Greg is going to try using his deep fryer for the first time and we are planning to make halibut tacos!

Monday: Our favorite weeknight go to soup - Crockpot tomato basil with grilled cheese sandwiches.

Tuesday: We are doing Blue Apron this week!  Tuesday will be Togarashi-Spiced Tilapia & Jade Pearl Rice.

Wednesday: Blue Apron Meal: Cuban Sandwiches with Sweet Plantain & Kale Salad.

Thursday: Blue Apron Meal: Turkey Meatballs & Linguine with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Pecorino Cheese.

Friday: Dinner at Dan & Jeannette's!

Saturday: My recent obsession just won't quit - so I'm going to try and make Indian food at home.  Butter Chicken with a side of stir fry vegetables.