Menu Plan Monday and some odds and ends!

So for those who are "fans" on facebook, I did post that I made my first apple pie. I used a new pie and crust recipe and I wasn't a fan of either, so you won't be seeing it on here!  I like a flaky crust and it just didn't meet my expectations, I'll stick with this one from now on. I wanted to experiment and see what the difference was and now I have.

I made myself a chocolate coconut cake for my birthday this past week but...while the cake was delicious, the frosting was not. I decided to try a healthier shortening and it had a different taste. It seemed to work well with the cake because it was a tropical cake, but I love the butter cream frosting from Hallee and this just didn't cut it. Seen as a cake is very rarely made, I'll stick to regular shortening!

My mom also gave me her food dehydrator and wanted to give it a try! This doesn't really have a recipe and the process really only works if you have a dehydrator. Although I have seen that you can make your own fruit leather and dried fruit using your oven set to a low temp for 8-10 hrs, but I really didn't want to do that especially when I knew my mom had one I could have...borrow! I made banana chips, apple chips, and banana apple fruit leather. It took two days, and I actually pulled out the bananas a little early as we like them a bit softer. Can't wait to try some beef jerky the next time I get to the store! YUM!

This week's menu will be based on what we made for the cooking day and what I have on hand. I wanted to save some of the cooking day meals for nights I knew we needed a quick dinner, but I also know I'm low on groceries, so another week of eating from the freezer and then perhaps I'll get to the store!

There is currently nothing slated for baking...but I KNOW there will be some just not sure what. It's getting cold and when that happens I like to heat the house up by baking!

-Pumpkin Pancakes

-Pumpkin Spice Bagels

-Egg McBagels

As far as dinners go...

-Salisbury Steak with mashed potatoes, carrots

-White Bean Chicken Chili with corn bread

-A new chicken enchilada recipe with a white sauce

-Sweet and Sour Kielbasa over brown rice

-Coconut Beans and Rice