Week 43 in Review

It is time to review week 43.   Week 43 started with 2 non cooking days and it was definitely a good thing.  The ‘Ole Buckeye had a dinner meeting and a sail race night and I had a horrid sinus headache.  I was down for most of the day on Tuesday.  It must have been a combined plane trip and the amount of pollen in the air.  Spring is wonderful, but it does cause its fare share of congestion for our family.  It has been one of the few curses since our move South.

The ‘Ole Buckeye once again lucked out on his Thursday dinner.  We thawed his Thursday dinner from last week.  This encore was quite tasty and as an added bonus, it proved to freeze successfully.

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken

Slow cooked shredded chicken with corn, tomatoes and black beans. Prep this the night before and turn your crock pot on in the morning for an easy weeknight meal. Serve over rice or in a bowl with nachos on the side, and don’t forget the toppings.

Friday was a cool but sunny day and I was feeling better.  We elected to take a day trip to Newport News to visit the Mariner’s Museum.  The Mariners Museum

It truly amazes me that we have lived here for over 2 years and continually find things close to home that are genuinely  fascinating to explore.  We spent the entire day at the museum, interrupted only by a picnic I packed which we ate in a garden just outside of the museum.

I would say that maybe we saw about 1/3 of the exhibits.  It definitely brought the history of the Monitor and the Merrimac (Virginia) to life.

Dinner was fast and furious since we arrived back home fairly late.  The ‘Ole Buckeye grilled homestyle sausages on the grill and I quickly prepared home fries, asparagus and a Ceasar salad.  He had offered an evening out, but I have decided that if it can be prepared at home it should be.  I like to save the money for a needed night out.

Saturday brought a new, easy, and delicious baked salmon.  Although I have two other very successful salmon dishes, this one is extremely good as well.  The lime sauce deliciousness was delectible mixed with the brown rice making it an easy “cilantro rice”.  I served it with roasted asparagus which also went well with the sauce.  It was truly a delightful and healthy meal.

Baked Honey Cilantro Lime Salmon in Foil – Creme De La Crumb

Baked honey cilantro lime salmon in foil is cooked to tender, flaky perfection in just 30 minutes with a flavorful garlic and honey lime glaze. If you haven’t cooked fish before, this is the perfect place to start. Then again, if you have been cooking fish for years, this is still perfect for you.

Sunday was Easter.  We attended Easter service with our daughter and son in law followed by a brief walk in the Norfolk Botanical Garden.  I didn’t want to push the allergy recovery.  Lovely.

It was about that time that our son texted…he was taking his boat out for a spin and our granddaughter wanted to help Granma with Easter dinner.  And so that is how it happened.  The rest of the family went boating and Deli and I worked the kitchen.  (My other granddaughter and her mom were in Dallas at a soccer tournament.)

Because I had prepared most of the holiday meal ahead, it made it easy to spend time with Deli on the decor and a special treat.  I had also given part of the meal prep to my daughter.  She was in charge of the brussels sprouts and salad.  I had made the coconut cake and the scalloped potatoes on Saturday.  The scalloped potatoes are an old favorite recipe collected years ago.

Deli and I were left with the pork loin, the appetizer, and the table decor.  I also opted to have her make a surprise for the meal that I had pinned some time ago.

She prepared the seasoning for the roast and massaged it into the meat.  She cut the crudite and made a simple dip with Greek yogurt and Knorr vegetable soup mix.

She hung the eggs on the centerpiece and created the napkins.  She choose the runner and placemats and set the table.  She worked hard and was so proud.

We also worked together to make the empty tomb rolls.  Granted, they  would have been better served at breakfast or brunch, but it added to the reason for the celebration, so we served them with dinner.  She instructed everyone to open their rolls at the same time…empty.

Dinner and Day were a huge success.  All of us were able to spend it in a way that we enjoyed.  We were then able to come together with almost the entire family to celebrate the day.

We even had time for an evening walk before dessert.  The end of a most perfect day.

I have included the new and approved recipes as well as the tried and true roast pork loin recipe.  It has become my favorite pork loin which  I now call smoke alarm pork loin.  I have tweaked the recipe over time and will post my rendition in a future blog.  It is always delicious.

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Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin

For an elegant main course, use thyme, rosemary and basil to make Paula Deen’s Herb-Crusted Pork Tenderloin recipe from Food Network.

Empty Tomb Crescent Rolls Recipe – Food.com

What a treat on Easter morning! Fresh, warm crescent rolls for breakfast. But, that is only half the treat… learning or re-enforcing the true meaning of Easter for Christians everywhere. This is delightful and fun for the little ones to help with.

The Empty Tomb recipe that I had originally pinned called for Rhodes frozen rolls and I knew it was too late to make this version.  It would take too long to thaw the rolls and the pork required the oven.  The source also said crescent rolls could be used.  I googled and found the crescent roll recipe.  The crescent rolls were on hand and the recipe a go.  Obviously if you read the recipe you will find an ooey,  gooey delight much more appropriate for brunch.  I will definitely keep this idea for future Easter mornings.

Coconut Cake – Cooking Classy

Last week I posted my favorite chocolate cake recipe and I this week I decided why not keep a good thing going – and make more cake? So, today I’m sharing

The coconut cake.  First you must understand that my favorite cake is coconut cake.  I have multiple pins for making it from scratch, but have never made one.  I spent hours reviewing several recipes and decided to try this one.

I won’t go into detail about how long it took me to make this cake and the issues that arouse, but the result was truly delicious.  We have enjoyed slivers all week.

Monday brought another new recipe.  I love Swiss cheese and I love French onion soup.  This French Onion Chicken caught my eye several weeks ago.   I will admit that it tasted like French onion soup and was a fairly easy one pan meal.  I have so many great chicken recipes and this one simply does not rise to the top of that list.  It was good for a cook once/eat twice but not necessarily a repeat.

French Onion Chicken

Chunks of chicken tossed in a thick french onion gravy loaded with sautéed Vidalia onions and melted Swiss cheese. This is great served over slices of french bread, egg noodles or rice. This post is sponsored by Vidalia Onion Committee Years ago I was not a fan of French Onion Soup.

So there you have it.  Week 43 was another great week of eating, family time, and Easter celebration.   It is true that often the meal is what brings us together, and with just a little extra time, each meal can be special.