February 27, 2021

WEEKLY MENU 02.28.21

The Weekly Menu 02.28.21 has comfort food for days – even though February (finally!) ends, March is still mostly wintery~

The Weekly Menu 02.28.21 has one item on it that is quintessentially American: Oreos. (Affiliate links follow – see Disclaimer Page for details.) We’re mixing them in with brownies, pudding and “cream” to take Sunday dessert to new levels.

Trifle. Say it with me.

We got some oreos at the grocery store last week, but they languished, unopened, in the pantry. Why? Mostly because everyone forgot they were in there. I decided to make a Trifle with them, because, Oreos. If you’ve never made a trifle, you should drop everything and give it a try. It’s basically a beautiful mashup of cake (or brownies in this case), instant pudding, chocolate sauce and Cool Whip.

I started making Trifles the first time I made a cake that just did NOT want to come out of the pan. Maybe I forgot the cooking spray? Maybe the flouring went awry? Regardless, that sucker wasn’t coming out of the pan in a single piece. It came out in chunks, and not pretty ones. So we switched it up midstream, and bowled it instead of putting it on a cake stand. Trifles work great if you have leftover cake too. (I know it’s shocking, but it happens.)

Trifle Bowls are a thing.

But they are sure not necessary. Any bowl will work – I lent our trifle bowl and never saw it again, so we’ll use a big, clear salad bowl. There is no need to go and buy one. If you want to, though, they are pretty reasonably priced, and make a nice addition to your serving pieces. They are equally pretty with fruit salad or a composed salad. Straight sides and a pedestal are normal, but the possibilities are endless.

I LOVE Trifles. Check out these ones if you don’t feel like Oreos. (WHAT?!?!)

White Chocolate Red Velvet Blueberry Trifle

Sunday Dessert is important during Lent.

The OG Baby Boy gave up sweets for Lent, but, as everyone knows, Sundays don’t count as Lent. (The Lenten fast excludes Sundays.) He’s hard core dedicated, and I just watch in awe. (He’s not quite as dedicated to the no-meat aspect of Lent, but to each their own.) Sunday is the perfect time for a “cheat day” and this Trifle will make the perfect treat.

Comfort food abounds during the Weekly Menu 02.28.21. We’re starting with plain, baked chicken. I often bake off chicken to add to a salad or incorporate into a chicken quesadilla or burrito, and the boys always love to sneak a piece of the chicken before it’s added to the main course. I drizzle a little olive oil on top of the chicken and season with kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and some paprika. Then it bakes quickly in a 425 degree oven until it is just done. Overcooking makes it dry and tasteless. I rely heavily on my Instant Read Thermometer to know it’s cooked, but not overdone.

We try to avoid that.

You can use chicken on the bone or skinless, boneless chicken breasts, which is the plan for Sunday. I’ll bake extra potatoes for the Cottage Pie on Monday, mash them and pop them in the fridge so they’re ready to top the beef and veggies.

We’ll roast more chicken on Thursday for the Buffalo Chicken Chopped Salad, unless I feel saucy and pick up a rotisserie chicken, which would work great in this salad recipe and would put dinner on the table in about fifteen minutes.