This Week’s Menu Plan

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by Crystal on February 21, 2011

(Strawberry Smoothies I made for the children for breakfast recently. I’ve found I can hide all sorts of healthful things — like ground flax seeds and more! — in smoothies and the children just lap them up and ask for more!)

I set a goal for myself to try at least two new recipes every week. That might not seem like a lot to those of you who are really adventuresome in the kitchen, but for someone like me, who tends to get stuck in a rut, it’s been a good challenge.

And I’m finding that the more I branch out and try new things in the kitchen, the more I’m enjoying it!

Breakfasts:

Scones, Smoothies
Homemade Granola, Fruit
Raisin Toast, Scrambled Eggs, Fruit
Cold Cereal, Juice
Orange Cream Smoothies, English Muffins
Toasted Bagels, Fruit
Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls, Scrambled Eggs, Juice

Lunches:

Leftovers x 3
Macaroni & Cheese, carrots
Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, fruit
Cheese Quesadillas, frozen veggies
Seapak Frozen Fish, frozen veggies

Dinners:

Dinner Out
Tilapia, Toast, Frozen Veggies, Grapefruit
Brown Bag Burritos (from the freezer), Green Rice Casserole (from the freezer), Fruit
Turkey Chili Taco Soup,* Homemade Bread, Veggies
Whole Grain Chicken Soup With Rice,* Olive Garden Breadsticks,* Apple Slices
Homemade Pizza, Tossed Salad, Ice Cream
Dinner at Extended Family’s House

Extras:

Homemade Starbucks Peppermint Mocha* (I’m going to tweak the recipe some, per instructions that Beth from The Natural Mommy emailed me.)

*Denotes a new-to-me recipe. If any of these become winners, I’ll be sure to let you know. And I promise to post my Homemade Starbucks Peppermint Mocha recipe, as soon as I get it perfected.

By the way, I’m on a restaurant recipe knock-off kick, so if you have any incredible restaurant knock-off recipes (especially Starbucks, Panera or Olive Garden!), be sure to leave the link in the comments below so I can consider trying them.

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{ 106 comments }

Heather Z February 22, 2011 at 7:33 am

I often make a homemade version of OG’s Saussage and Peppers Rustica. Super easy… just get some Italian Saussage (we like sweet) precook then cut into chunks and brown a bit more if you want. Cut some green bell peppers into pretty large chunks and throw them in with the saussage. Throw your fav. red sauce in with them along with some sort of short pasta and enjoy!

n February 22, 2011 at 7:34 am

I didn’t read through all 60+ comments to see if someone else mentioned this, but in the summer, put your smoothie mixtures in popsicle molds. :) My poor children, they thought I went nuts when I was letting them eat 2 popsicles a day!! ;)

Lana February 22, 2011 at 8:28 am

I love this idea! We love the whole fruit bars but they are so expensive that I only buy them occasionally.

Becky February 22, 2011 at 7:44 am

So I asked a waitress one time if you could just buy the salad dressing, and she said no. The only thing she knew was that she put 3T on each salad–that was the official “portion”. Rather than serving salad with various dressings, I added 2.5 T (I thought I had a little less salad in the bowl) of our favorite non-creamy ceasar, tossed it ahead of time, and I chilled the salad a bit before serving. The kids ate it up! Same dressing, restaurant presentation made a huge difference!

jennifer February 22, 2011 at 8:12 am

We’ve successfully copied the olive garden potato soup recipe, the panera recipe, but the real question is: WHICH ONE OF YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE THEM HEALTHY!??? :)

Lana February 22, 2011 at 8:30 am

That is exactly the turnoff to restaurant knockoff recipes. I adore KFC coleslaw and then saw a knockoff recipe that called for 1/2 cup of SUGAR-no wonder I like it so much!!

jennifer February 23, 2011 at 8:48 am

Yeah, I’ve made the olive garden potato soup recipe- it’s good because it’s pure heavy cream!Ugh!

Melissa February 22, 2011 at 8:42 am

Here’s a wonderful knock-off recipe for Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars. Not healthy, but really, really yummy! :)
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 T. orange juice, plus zest of an orange
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 T. ground ginger
1 c. craisins
1 c. white chocolate chips
Beat the sugars, eggs, and juice. Mix in dry ingredients, stir in fruit and chips. Bake in a greased 9 x 13 pan at 325 degrees for 25 minutes.
For frosting, mix together 6 0z. cream cheese, 4 T. butter. Add 2 cups powdered sugar and more orange zest. Spread this on cooled bars and top with more craisins and white chocolate chips. Then, of course, cut them into triangles so they look like the real deal!
(this is my variation of a recipe found on food.com)

Janine February 22, 2011 at 8:47 am

Ive tried many starbucks knock offs and I resorted to a tassimo with the latte primos. My website http://www.thekelcrew.tumblr.com has a demo. Then, I use the rasperry, carmel, or cinnamon dolce syrups. Tastes GREAT!!!!

Also, Olive garden sells their dressing at the restaurant.

Jaime @ Like a Bubbling Brook February 22, 2011 at 9:38 am

Crystal, if you are interested in restaurant recipes right now, then you might enjoy my healthier and budget-friendly variation of Wolfgang Puck’s Chicken Pot Pie: http://likeabubblingbrook.com/2011/02/chicken-pot-pie-with-a-savory-herb-cheddar-crust/

Let me know if you try it!

xoxo

Sarah K. @ the Pajama Chef February 22, 2011 at 11:27 am

Here’s my recipe for Panera’s Cream of Chicken & Wild Rice. Can’t wait to see more of your recipes! :)

http://pajamachef.wordpress.com/2011/01/05/chicken-and-wild-rice-soup/

Sarah, A Thrifty Mom February 22, 2011 at 11:52 am

THRIFTY RECIPE FOR OLIVE GARDEN TOSCANA SOUP
This is one of our families favorite…quick easy so YUMMY, step by step instruction listed in link below with photos! Hope you enjoy

http://athriftymom.com/2010/03/thrifty-recipe-for-olive-garden-toscana-soup/

ruthann February 22, 2011 at 12:07 pm

I didn’t take time to read all the comments- someone might have already given you this: Olive Garden’s Pasta Fajoli

1lb ground turkey/beef
1 lg onion, chopped
1 lg carrot, halved, sliced
2 lg celergy stalkds
1 tsp crushed fresh garlic
2 (14+ oz) cans Ital. flav’d tomatoes, crushed
1 (15 oz) can red kidney beans, drained
3 c. beef broth
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper
6 oz elbow/bowtie/whatever pasta you like (I use whole grain!)
grated parmesan cheese

from a submission in our Church’s cookbook!
1

Robyn February 22, 2011 at 12:39 pm

We love this recipe for Alfredo sauce… it’s supposed to be a knock-off of Olive Garden :D

http://secretrecipes.blogspot.com/2006/10/olive-gardens-alfredo-sauce.html

Caroline February 22, 2011 at 1:20 pm

Stephanie from A Year Of Slow Cooking has a great Pasta e Fagioli soup that’s similar to Olive Garden’s. I’ve made it a few times and it’s been very well received! http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/day-305.html

shelly February 22, 2011 at 1:32 pm

Could someone share their smoothie recipe where you use spinach? I’ve never made smoothies before and am not quite sure where to start :)

Celia Husmann February 22, 2011 at 2:58 pm

Sure! I use two large handfuls of spinach, 2 cups of water (or you can use a mixture with apple juice or all juice… or even yogurt)! 2 cups of strawberries and 1 banana. :) Blend it well and it will be a red strawberry smoothie! You can do 1 1/2 handfuls of spinach if scared but I promise you will NOT taste the spinach!

april February 22, 2011 at 2:16 pm

Can I get your strawberry smoothie recipe, looks delicious!

Thank you!
April

Jessi February 22, 2011 at 2:18 pm

here is the site I always use when I need a good restraunt knock off recipe :)

http://www.cdkitchen.com/copycat/

Rebekah {honeyandcheese} February 22, 2011 at 3:12 pm

Panera Bread’s Broccoli Cheddar soup is obviously popular. :) I tried to mimic it last fall and came up with this: http://www.honeyandcheese.com/2010/10/12/recipe-broccoli-cheddar-soup/

It’s not entirely like Panera’s (mine definitely has more broccoli, which I’m okay with), but we still enjoyed it. :)

Reagan February 22, 2011 at 4:23 pm

I made a recipe for orange chicken that I found that smells just like panda express but tastes a lot better!! It uses fresh ginger and garlic mixed with vinegar and sugar, some hot red pepper flakes… it is SO SO good!

http://recipesmademyway.blogspot.com/2010/04/orange-chicken.html

theresa February 22, 2011 at 4:26 pm

Awesome post. I’m in love with their new pear and gorgonzola ravaioli with shrimp. Yum! And of course salad and breadsticks.

Reagan February 22, 2011 at 4:49 pm

http://recipesmademyway.blogspot.com/2010/02/cheddar-garlic-biscuits.html

This is a great recipe my mom always made that is similar to the cheddar bay biscuits from red lobster

Here is one that I came up with for the Baked Potato Soup from O’Charleys

http://recipesmademyway.blogspot.com/2010/02/baked-potato-soup.html

Abby February 22, 2011 at 4:55 pm

I made The Zuppa Toscana from Olive Garden on X-mas day.

It was great- I posted the recipe (and my mods to it) on my blog:

http://cacoupondiva.wordpress.com/2010/12/27/

If the kiddos don’t like spicy, you can use mild sausage and omit the red pepper flakes.

Amy Hull February 22, 2011 at 5:26 pm

I received an e-book a couple years back that I keep forgetting to try. It’s the Insiders Recipes Master Edition for various brand name recipes to try at home. Still haven’t tried them, maybe now will be the time. I don’t have a link to it, but will email you a copy of what I have, if you’d like.

Natalie February 22, 2011 at 7:26 pm

I love trying 1 or 2 new things a week. And I started with the smoothies right after Christmas when I got sick. Every morning now, I share with my 2 year old – 1 cup of fresh spinach(you can’t taste it!), 1 orange, 1 frozen banana, and then either 1/2 c strawberries or blueberries or an apple or pear + 1 c almond milk. Sometimes I add in some oatmeal (uncooked) and flax too. I love it!

Lisa February 22, 2011 at 8:33 pm

I love the Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli recipe at http://www.topsecretrecipes.com.

Martha Artyomenko February 22, 2011 at 9:59 pm

I have made some knock-off recipes…like Taco Bell hot sauce that was really good!
I tried your cinnamon swirl bread….but changed it up a bit. I made a big batch in the Bosch and did some different things to it! It was great!
4 c. warm water
1 c. oil, butter
1/2 c. honey
1 T. salt
9 c. whole wheat flour
2 c. white flour
2.5 T. instant yeast
1 T. lecithin
pinch of ginger

Mix in mixer liquid ingredients. Add yeast, honey and lecithin, wait until bubbly. Add 8 c. whole wheat flour and pinch of ginger…mix for 4-5 minutes. Add remaining cup of whole wheat flour and the white flour and knead for 2-3 more minutes, until dough cleans bowl and feels right.

Let rise until double. Divide into 4 pieces…..2 bigger and two smaller. This made two smaller long loaves and 2 big regular size loaves. I rolled it out and spread it with a little softened butter and drizzled with about 1-2 T of honey and sprinkle liberally with cinnamon and raisins if you like. Roll up and tuck in the ends so nothing drips out. Put in well greased pans.

Let rise until double. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until well browned and sounds hollow when tapped on bottom.

AnneStrawberry February 23, 2011 at 4:19 pm

I have a great recipe for Cafe Rio pork. It uses adobo sauce and tastes amazing!

http://annestrawberry.blogspot.com/2010/01/cafe-rio-pork-salad-and-burritos-with.html

We also love the French Country Salad from Cheesecake Factory and make it for a lot cheaper-

http://annestrawberry.blogspot.com/2008/03/french-country-salad.html

I make the Paradise Bakery (Panera) black and white chocolate chipper cookies all the time. The secret is to underbake them!

http://annestrawberry.blogspot.com/2010/05/chocolate-mint-chippers.html

I’m excited to see try some of those Olive Garden recipes! Thank you!

Jesus Girl H February 24, 2011 at 1:23 pm

I have a recipe for the Starbucks Peppermint Mocha, too! I go to WalMart and buy a tin of Steven’s Candy Cane Cocoa. I just add that to our coffee and it tastes awesome! :)

JenK February 24, 2011 at 5:25 pm

Thanks for posting the links with your menu! We are sharing a lovely virus of some sort in our house, so I made a pot of the whole grain chicken soup with rice that you linked to. It was WONDERFUL! Even my husband, who would never be mistaken for a soup fan, happily had a second bowl of this!

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