Menu Monday- Halloween, Chili 5 ways, Pumpkin Bread and More

Lots and lots to talk about with this Menu Monday! Stick around for some tips and tricks for your trick-or-treat week!

Chicken Tamale Pie-I am loving how easily this recipe came together and it was delicious. I used this recipe.

Dixie Stampede Soup- So many folks have mentioned this on facebook that I decided to go ahead and give this a whirl. I've had it on my "to try" list for about a year now and thought now that its soup season, let's give it whirl. Jay ate 2 bowls..one before church and another after. Um, if my 3 year old will eat vegetable soup, then this one is staying in the rotation, friends! There are lots of versions out there, I adapted a few and did this:

6 Tablespoons salted butter

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic salt

2 tsp corn syrup

6 tablespoons all purpose flour

few grinds of pepper

pinch of salt

1 cup of chicken broth

3 cups of water

1 can sliced potatoes finely chopped

1 can sliced carrots finely chopped

4 cups half-and-half

In a large pot, melt butter add onion powder, garlic salt, corn syrup. Add flour, pepper, salt, chicken broth, water and vegetables simmer for a few minutes, add half-and-half and simmer on low, do not boil. 

Calzones with Chicken, Marinara, Mushrooms-I made extra chicken on Tamale Pie night and used the extra to make these awesome calzones. (Disclaimer: I made the kids a cheese pizza tonight.)

1 pizza dough (in the bakery at Publix, there is a tiny fridge with dough--did you know that?)

1# cooked chicken

1 package fresh mushrooms

1 jar marinara

freshly grated mozzarella

olive oil

salt, pepper, garlic salt italian seasoning, to taste

flour for surfaces

Heat 1 Tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet, add chopped, cooked chicken. Once heated add entier package fresh mushrooms, saute 2-3 minutes, add salt pepper and season ings to taste. Reduce heat to low, let mushrooms continue to cook down. 

Remove dough from package, cut into thirds. Using floured hands and a floured surface, Stretch each third into  large oval shapes, spoon half of the chicken mushroom mixture onto one side of two ovals. Top with generous handful of mozzarella, fold plain side of dough over pressing seam together all the way around with a fork. Place on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and spread over entire top with hands. Season with italian seasoning. 

I used the final third oval to make a cheese pizza for the kids with the marinara and mozzarella. 

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with warm red sauce. 

Chili-for us, Chili is a Halloween must-have. If you've been following our Menu Monday plans, you may have some Chili in the freezer to make tonight extra easy. I also want to share with you how we do leftover chili at our house...

(if you follow me on instagram you've seen some of these before)

Chili 5 ways

1. Top Baked potatoes, add cheese and sour cream.

2. Cornbread Cups- I found these awesome cornbread biscuits in the dairy section and knew I had to try them out. I greased a muffin tin, pressed the biscuits into the cups, making a well. Filled the well with some thawed leftover chili and topped with cheese (all we had was sliced) and baked at 350 for about 15-17 minutes. Total homerun!

3. Burritos-using a slotted spoon, fill tortillas and roll, bake in a casserole dish at 350 for 15 minutes, top with queso OR just heat individually in the microwave and serve with chips and salsa

4. Quesadillas- in a nonstick skillet or on a griddle warm tortilla, layer on cheese, chili, peppers, salsa--whatever you like, more cheese, top with another tortilla, flip and brown second side.

5. Nachos-line a baking sheet with foil, spread tortilla chips, top with chili, cheeses, peppers, salsa, pop in 375 degree oven, top with sour cream, lettuce, tomato, guacamole.

There you have it! 5 easy ways to re-mix this fall menu staple!

Beef and Mushrooms (aka Pot Roast) click here for the recipe and the story behind that name!

also this week it's Pumpkin Bread from Miss Daisy.

1 cup water

1 cup oil

1 can pumpkin pie filling or plain pumpkin

3 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 cup black walnuts, chopped

1 and 1/2 cups dates, chopped

3 and 1/2 cups self rising flour

1 tsp each nutmeg, ginger, salt

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

Mix together first 7 ingredients, sift together remaining ingredients. Mix well with pumkin mixture. Pour into two large greased loaf pans (I used 1 large and 4 small) Bake for 1 and 1/2 hours at 325 (30 minutes for the small loaves).

It is awesome!

So awesome in fact that just after I snapped this picture and put the "pumpkin cake" waayyy back on the counter, I turned around to this.

The boy and the very eager dog in the wings.

Jay took some in his lunch box he liked it so much!

This recipe is from my all-time favorite cook book Recipes from Miss Daisy's - 25th Anniversary Edition
 you can find it here. This is the 25th anniversary edition and it is UNDER $10. It is the best $10 you'll ever spend.

Its a busy week in the kitchen, and this menu is awesome and easy. I know you'll find somethings here to add to your family's favorites.

Thanks for visiting and Happy Halloween!!

I'll be back Monday for another awesome week of family dinners! Have a wonderful week!