January 16, 2021

WEEKLY MENU 01.17.21

We’re celebrating our way through the Weekly Menu 01.17.21 with Baby Boy’s Friday birthday~

But we’ve got you covered for dinner every night during the Weekly Menu 01.17.21. We’re eating Asian inspired, Tex-Mex and tossing in an old standby too!

A Birthday Dinner requires that the Birthday Boy chooses his favorite meal. Baby Boy always leans towards Italian – as do his brothers. This week, because Baby Boy’s birthday is on a Friday – which is the busiest work-day of the week for his mother – we’ll make the cake the day before, and get the party started with a super easy appetizer.

I’m cheating a bit with the cake.

Baby Boy adores chocolate cake. I’m using a box mix that we’re bumping up and cooking in layers. I make the cake according to the box – but when I’m adding the wet ingredients, I’ll add a tablespoon or so of instant coffee granules. You don’t taste coffee in the end result, but it makes the cake richer somehow. I mix in about a cup of chocolate chips before I pour the cake into the pans.

I use THREE cake pans to make this dessert extra special. (Affiliate links follow – see disclaimer page for details.) Split the cake batter evenly across the cake pans before cooking according to the instructions on the box. These pans are ideal to put into your cupboard – because they’re so versatile. I use them for setting up my breading station too. (Make sure to use a silicone whisk with these so you don’t scratch the pans.)

I’m probably not going to have time to make scratch frosting either – so I’ll make the frosting extra tasty by adding a capful of vanilla. Plus, I use two cans – three layers is a LOT of cake to frost!

Spoiler Alert:

Baby boy prefers the canned frosting to the more labor intensive alternatives. And it IS his birthday. Don’t tell the food police.

I use my vegetable peeler to decorate the top of the cake by making chocolate curls on top of the whole frosted shebang. Check out how here:

Of course we’ll blow out the candles restaurant style – we’ll cut a big piece and add a candle to just Baby Boy’s. That way he’s not sharing anything with the rest of us while he’s making his wish.

Look at this cutie – and his brothers – from a year or twenty ago:

There’s plenty of eating before Friday, though. We’ve all been jonesing for a good old fashioned fish fry, so that’s for eats on Sunday. We’ll start out light with hard pretzels and cheese, and finish with refreshing Strawberry Sorbet. I’ve included a recipe for the sorbet, but I’ll probably buy some.

On Tuesday, we’re lightening up with a big salad.

The chicken will be drizzled with a little olive oil and seasoned with salt, pepper and chili powder before baking. I like to spread everything out on a big platter.

Salad greens will be topped with corn, black beans and shredded cheese. And the family favorite dressing is super easy: Ranch Dressing gets a hearty add of chili powder and becomes, you guessed it, Chili Ranch Dressing. Everyone can top their own salads with a little crushed corn chips for crunch.

Check out the Busy Day Soup. It’s a throwback – it reminds me of something my mother used to call Goulash. Bert’s mom called it Slop. It’s perfect for a busy night no matter what it’s called. I’ll probably use crushed up spaghetti noodles instead of the elbow mac – because that’s what Bert’s mom did, and it sounds a little lighter (plus more fun!).

WEEKLY MENU 01.17.21

The Apple-Cranberry Slaw is from Cooking Classy. The strawberry sorbet (check out how easy this is!) is via Mom on Timeout. The Asian Pepper Steak is from Saving Room for Dessert. We found the Coconut Chicken Tenders at Le Creme de la Crumb. The Busy Day Soup is at Simply Stacie.