Menu Monday 11/15

Happy Monday! 

I made a BIG grocery store trip yesterday and loaded up on a bunch of goodies. There will be lots of cooking happening at our house this week!

Here's what's on the menu:

From Top Left:

Thai Peanut Pasta - This is one of our favorite pastas, and we haven't made it in so long! This was our dinner last night and I'll be enjoying leftovers for lunch. Click here to see my post with the recipe.

The next 4 pictures are for a Fall Feast dinner we're having with our 'friend-family' on Tuesday night. We've been getting together almost every week, and rotating houses. It's my turn this week, so I'm doing a pre-Thanksgiving fall theme! So excited! I've got a few more things planned than what I'm listing here, but I'll do a full post on the dinner later in the week.

Bourbon-Cranberry Turkey Tenderloin - It wouldn't be a true Thanksgiving-inspired meal without turkey! This dish sounds AMAZING and I can't wait to see how it turns out! Here is the Southern Living recipe.

Result - Delicious! This is a fantastic alternative to a roasted turkey. Quick and easy, this is perfect for entertaining!

Maple Sweet Potato Cups - So cute! I love anything in a ramekin. This is also a new Southern Living recipe that I haven't tried. Fingers crossed it tastes as good as it looks! Recipe can be found here.

Outcome - Yum!! Surprisingly good. I did spice it up by adding cinnamon and more brown sugar. This is a very cute dish!

Sweet-and-Sour Green Beans - These finely chopped green beans sound good, and everything tastes better with bacon! Also from Southern Living.

Verdict - Popular! Everybody really liked these. They were easy and definitely sweet-and-sour.

Bourbon-Flavored Pecan Pies - Pecan pie is another obvious staple at the fall dinner table. This recipe comes from Justin Timberlake's NYC restaurant, inspired by his grandmother (who I'm sure lives here in Memphis). This recipe is from Food Network Magazine. Sounds great!

Result - Not good. It was very difficult to eat these. Hard as rocks! Very cute though. I won't be making this particular pecan pie recipe again, but I do plan to try an alternative and make them mini-sized.

Up next on the menu are a few things for Keith's birthday dinner! His actual birthday is Friday, but we're having a dinner for just the two of us at home on Thursday night. Friday, we'll celebrate with the whole family! He got to pick what he wanted...so he chose one of our favorites - 

Maple Chipotle Pork Chops on Smoked Gouda Grits - This is only the 100th time I've mentioned this recipe on the blog before. It's amazing, and if you haven't made it yet you better get going! It's wonderful! Click here to check it out.

Result - Seriously, do I have to tell you again how good these are? By now, you ought to know I'm a huge advocate of these chops on grits! :)

Chocolate Ganache Cake - YUM! I've made this cake for my hubby's birthday for the past 2 or 3 years at least. It's his favorite cake and it's so pretty and easy. Recipe from Betty Crocker.

Update - I dedicated a post to this here. Check it out!

Bacon Omelet Roll - For Saturday morning, I'll be making breakfast for Keith and my parents, who are coming in town. I tore this recipe out of Kraft's magazine, Food & Family, and it sounds easy and looks pretty. Hopefully it tastes yummy!

Result - Great!! I posted about my experience here, and I'm already thinking of ways to alter this dish for different omelet ingredients!

I'm looking forward to some great meals this week. Hopefully some of the new recipes will be winners! As always, I'll share the results! Have a great day!