This would be a fun cocktail to serve to the adults at a circus or carnival themed party.  If you left out the rum, it would be a fun slush for the kids!

To make this cocktail, you will need rum, grenadine, coconut milk, fresh pineapple, and ice.  If you don’t have coconut milk on hand, you might try soy milk or almond milk.  The vanilla flavor will add sweetness that you need to achieve the “cotton candy” flavor.

You could also scale this up to serve more than one.  Just multiply the ingredients by the number of drinks you wish to make!

Start with about a cup or so of ice in your blender.

Add pineapple.

Then, the rum, grenadine, and milk.

Blend!  Make sure all of the chunks of ice are well blended.

You could just pour it straight into a glass.  However, to get a fun “swirl” in the drink, start with a little grenadine on the bottom.

Pour into the glass, and enjoy!

Cotton Candy Cooler
Recipe created by my husband

2 ounces rum
1/4 cup fresh pineapple chunks
splash of grenadine
2 ounces coconut milk
ice

In a blender, combine all ingredients.  To serve, pour a small amount of grenadine in the bottom of a glass.  Pour blended drink over grenadine and serve.

Makes 1 serving.

I am hoping to do a little more cooking ahead, and put some meals in the freezer for an upcoming overnight business trip.  This way, my family will have homemade meals at the ready even when I can’t be there to put them on the table.

Dinners
Sausage, Pepper, & Onion sandwiches (recipe to come soon!)
Grilled Salmon with Mango Salsa
“Chicago Seven” Calzones using my pizza dough
Ground Beef Taquitos (new recipe to us, will use my taco seasoning instead of theirs)
Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes (new recipe to us)
Dinner with friends
Leftovers/Freezer Meal

What’s on your menu plan this week?

The ratio which I used for my vanilla extract was three vanilla beans to one cup of vodka.  You can use this ratio to scale up or scale down the recipe.  I would suggest measuring out your container first with water and a glass measuring cup.  Don’t pour out the water, though.  Use it to water your plants!

All you need to do to the beans is split them lengthwise and drop them in the container.  If they are a little tall to be covered by the vodka (such as mine below!) you may want to also cut them in half to be shorter so they will be covered by the vodka, for maximum vanilla flavor.

After a few months, the extract should deepen in color, and the vodka will begin to taste more like vanilla.  The longer it sits, the more flavorful it will become!  The extract below aged for a few weeks before I snapped the photo, just to give you an idea.

Homemade Vanilla Extract
Recipe adapted from Simply Recipes

3 vanilla beans
1 cup vodka

Split the vanilla beans lengthwise with a sharp knife.  Place inside a glass container with a tight-fitting lid.  Cover with vodka and seal.  Shake the container vigorously.  Store in a dark place for at least 2 months before using.

Makes 1 cup.

If you have not given menu planning a go, I really hope you’ll try planning at least dinners for a couple days.  I believe it will benefit everyone!  Be flexible with your plan, too.  Last week, I was able to snag a free pizza via a Facebook giveaway, so that went into the plan for the week instead of another meal.  Additionally, some good friends of ours spontaneously had us over one afternoon, and asked us to stay for dinner!  It was so unexpected and sweet of them.  Hopefully we can return the favor and have them over for a meal soon!

When meals get bumped out of the week’s plan, I usually already have everything on hand.  If the recipe involves fresh items that will spoil, they get moved to the front of the line for the next week’s plan.  When they don’t involve anything fresh (or I just haven’t gone to the store yet!), they go into the queue for later on in the next week.

For example… the cornbread casserole and kielbasa dish are leftover from last week’s plan.  I just didn’t get to them.  Hopefully I will this week!

Dinners
Cheesy Cornbread Casserole (new recipe to us)
Homemade Pizza
Kielbasa and Beans (third time’s a charm, right?!)
Bacon Cheeseburger Buns with my dough recipe
Cheesy Beans and Rice
Leftovers/Freezer meal (x2)

What’s on your menu plan this week?

Not everything his dad made was amazing or gourmet, but German Pizza was one of his best.  Now that he’s gone, it’s become a comfort food to my husband, and he enjoys remembering him while dining on this dish!

Potatoes, onion, ham, and eggs.  Now, please note that I used at least double the eggs in my dish to hold it all together.

You want to slice the potatoes and onions as uniformly as possible.  If you have a mandolin, now is an excellent time to use it!

In a baking dish, layer the potatoes, onion, and ham. Choose a dish that will make as much as your family will eat.  This dish is about a 12″ diameter, and fed our family of 4 for a few meals.

Now, you can also use spam if you would like, in place of the ham.  Either way, it will be pretty good.

In a bowl, beat eggs with a little salt and pepper.  Pour the eggs over the layered potatoes, onion, and ham. Start with a few eggs.  If you need more, you can always beat a few more to pour on top.  I think I used around 6 to 8 eggs to fill this dish.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree F oven for about 30 to 45 minutes, until eggs and potatoes are cooked through.  Then, turn on the broiler and let the top get a little crispy and blistered.

Top with some cheese and return to the oven to melt.

Let the pizza sit for several minutes before cutting and serving.

German Pizza
Recipe perfected by my husband’s father

thinly sliced potatoes
thinly sliced or diced ham
thinly sliced onion
eggs
shredded cheese (cheddar, colby, monterey jack, or a blend)

In a baking dish, layer the potatoes, onion, and ham.  In a bowl, beat eggs with a little salt and pepper.  Pour the eggs over the layered potatoes, onion, and ham.  Bake in a preheated 375 degree F oven for about 30 to 45 minutes, until eggs and potatoes are cooked through.  Then, turn on the broiler and let the top get a little crispy and blistered.  Top with some cheese and return to the oven to melt.  Let the pizza sit for several minutes before cutting and serving.

Serves as many as you like!