Mid-Winter Vittles

Isn't it spring, you ask? When it comes to my (Hannah's) blogging habits, better late than never! This post will chronicle my week of cooking back in February, so you'll notice snowmen and hearts sprinkled throughout the photos. However, I did repeat a couple of these menus in late March, as they were hits originally, and we wanted to serve them again when my Aunt Bet visited for her birthday recently. So, enjoy the photos and recipe links!

First things first:

Cinnamon Roll Apple Pie, using the cinnamon roll dough recipe from my Hope's Table cookbook (signed by the author when Mom and I went to the Spring Creek Barn Sale) AND the inspiration to use it as an apple pie crust from @warmwinterwishes. Just mix up your favorite dough recipe, cut into pinwheels, flatten with a rolling pin to the size of a top crust, and place it over a pie dish of cooked apples. Bake until brown!

With the extra dough, I made regular cinnamon rolls for breakfast and to store in the freezer for later (which came in handy for my aunt's visit). Yum!

The pie was served after our main meal of Honey Coriander Salmon, Wild Rice and Charred Corn Salad (adapted), and steamed carrots.

The next meal was Firecracker Chicken Meatballs over rice, with steamed broccoli. We already love Cajun Chicken Meatballs and this spicy twist was also a winner.

A simple Instantpot meal I tried for the first time (well, all this week's meals were new to us) was Italian Beef Goulash, a one-bowl meal. Next time, I would add more seasoning to pump up the Italian flavor. With it we enjoyed a salad with Sweet Mango salad dressing and savory Rosemary Focaccia.

Since it was Valentines' week, these Chocolate Raspberry Linzer Cookies and Strawberry Sugar Cookies made it onto the menu at some point, to nibble on throughout the week.

For our special Valentines meal, the theme was "Outback Steakhouse." While it involved preparing many different components, I had a great time creating it all, and the family loved it.

Alice Springs Chicken (there are many copycat recipes out there):

Aussie Crunch Salad...the crunch being fried spaghetti and cinnamon pecans:

And Outback's signature Bloomin' Onion complete with dipping sauce:


This brown bread recipe I have made in the past, and it is a keeper, so soft and yummy:

For the Pineapple on the Barbie, I threaded chunks of the fruit on skewers and cooked them on this grill pan indoors.

Dessert was a brownie trifle with berries and pudding:

Another meal later in the week was this comforting combo of Creamy Chicken Parmesan Pasta Soup and Cheddar Chive Biscuits, served in mugs. Check out the biscuit recipe for an easy way to make biscuits without cutting in the butter.

Each day I made a new meal, it would get written on our menu chalkboard:

Blueberry Cobbler is a go-to year-round since our freezer is stocked full of garden blueberries:

My final meal, after leftovers of the previous choices, was the following:

Chili-Dijon Pork Tenderloin:

Brioche Rolls:

Thanks, Mom, for giving me free reign of the kitchen for a week, and everyone for eating my dishes! Let me know in the comments what sounds tasty to you and what your family might try.

~Hannah

Comments

[Dad]

It was great, Sweets, thanks!

[Barbara J.]

Hannah, I know your mom appreciated having you take over the kitchen for a week. All your dishes look delicious. I love it when my daughter offers to come visit and take over my kitchen.

[Sarah H]

Everything looks soooo yummy!!! Makes me hungry just looking at it!

[victoria]

It all looks delicious!! I am sure your family loved it. Will have to try those firecracker chicken meatballs. Happy Easter!