Today was my eldest son's 11th birthday, so he got to choose our menu for the evening. He chose ham, cinnamon rice, and pumpkin muffins. We ended up saving the muffins and giving them a dose of homemade cream cheese frosting before singing the requisite birthday serenade. Our friends from our Bible Reading group were here to help us celebrate the momentous occasion. 
I used this egg roll wrapper and filling recipe as part of tonight's meal. The boys had pizza rolls while Chef D and I had something closer to the egg roll filling in the recipe (fake crab meat in the place of the shrimp). We ate them along with a light but hearty (because it had added rice) broth that Chef D made yesterday using some leftover wing tips not used in a batch of Mimi's Sticky Chicken wings that we took to a church potluck last night.
This is my final test of a Cuisine at Home recipe. The thai chicken skewer wraps were the last of the recipes I culled from my 2 year supply of Cuisine at Home magazines. It seems that most of my choices were asian-inspired recipes and I found that many of them used red pepper flakes that brought way too much heat to the table. I probably should not have tried to do them all in a two week period, but spread them out amongst less-spicy meals.
This Cuisine at Home recipe certainly led to a pretty photograph, but I am afraid that the flavor did not follow through in the same way.
This was another recipe from my Cuisine at Home magazine. This is the second recipe that has called for red pepper flakes and ended up being almost too hot to eat. From now on, I am not putting any red pepper flakes in my recipes and will just wait until the end to season. It was hard to even capture a taste of the bacon, tomato or spinach with all the heat from the red pepper-infused sauce. Chef D ate it but did not really care for it.
The first time I made this meal, something was just not quite right, so I thought I would give it another try tonight. Since the wontons were a little lacking in the flavor department last time, I added a bit more seasonings (extra fresh grated ginger and a minced clove of garlic). These wonton wrappers did not do well in the purse-shape I created last time, so we had little 'envelopes' tonight. 
Is this not just the most perfect plate that Chef D showed me while we were out shopping today? The lovely color and shape are just right for framing a beautiful meal, don't you think? 
This is the last of our Cuisine at Home recipes for this week's meals. Chef D does not really care for hot food on salad, so I added a fried rice at the last minute (using the leftover basmati rice from last Friday). I sauted some red onion and fresh minced garlic in some peanut oil, crumbled in the rice with a little salt, and fried it up enough to separate all the grains and get it warmed up.
This was yet another recipe from my Cuisine at Home magazines. I decided to use a hothouse cucumber instead of the usual garden variety before I realized that the recipe called to julienne the cucumber. I wasn't sure if it would provide enough crunch once I began to cut them up. I did not have any of the long-life noodles, so I just used thin spaghetti. 
Einstein did not get one of the apple pie bites last night, so I made a small batch this afternoon to surprise him with when he gets home from school. I used refrigerator biscuits this time instead of crescent roll dough. The crescent rolls were so much easier to deal with since I did not have to roll them, plus they held together at the top while these biscuits did not. But, they still tasted good (even though this version was cranberry-free)!
Yes, I am taking it easy today since it is another Apprehension-Free Wednesday! You, too, can take it easy and join me for dinner at church. Tonight's menu includes meatloaf, hashbrown casserole, green beans, rolls and dessert.
This is a recipe from Guy Fieri's Guy Off the Hook series on Food Network. It sounded too good to pass up, so tonight we had a little Yakatori Chicken. Since I had several bell peppers that had been purchased last week for a meal that was never made, I decided to stir-fry them with some onions and mushrooms. Then, at the last minute, I decided we needed a starch, so I pulled out the basmati rice. I noticed that it suggested to let the rice soak for 20 minutes prior to cooking to get the full length of the rice, so I decided to go for it. Wow. That was some long rice.
Unlike food stylist photographers, my food is real and ready to eat. That is why I was in a bit of a hurry when I took this picture. I wanted to eat it! So, I didn't exactly place the bun in the most attractive position. That is not a bite out of the bun, but where it was separated from it's sister bun. 
It is going to be a yummy Apprehension-Free Wednesday today! My sweet friend, VJ, is filling in for our usual church supper chef tonight and she decided to create an italian feast for our eating pleasure. Tonight's dinner will include spaghetti, salad, bread and dessert.
Tonight's Baked Rigatoni with Ham and Mushrooms was one of those courses that have that down-home cooking feel to them. It was kind of like an upscale ham casserole. I liked the texture of the rigatoni noodles -- usually I completely cook a pasta that is used in a casserole before it is mixed and baked, but this time I only cooked the rigatoni for about half the usual cooking time. It definitely helped give a little more to bite into. It was not bad, but wasn't special, either. Since it isn't exactly low-fat, we probably won't be having it often. However, Chef D did say he may take the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
Monday: Kim's Baked Rigatoni with ham and mushrooms with mixed green salad
