Recipe Testing - Week 2 Menu

I've been testing recipes on my family for the past few weeks. It's amazing to see how many recipes our family has made for years that we've never written down. I usually do a rough draft of a recipe and then tweek it as I'm making it - writing down my changes as I go!

Yesterday I served my family a traditional meal we've eaten for as long as I can remember. It's a summer meal that would be a great menu for a new baby's arrival. Here's our menu suggestion for this week:

Fresh Salmon Patties

Oven Fried Sweet Potatoes

Cheese N' Peas

For Dessert (which I didn't get pictures of):
Apple Coconut Crisp
Gingered Pear Ice Cream

New Baby - Week 1 Menu

"Admiration Maternelle" by William Bouguereau

A family from church just had a baby, so we took them a meal on Sunday. The menu was:

• Honey Mustard Chicken 
• Spinach Kugel
• Carrot Tzimmies 
• Salad
• Challah Bread 
• Brownies

Because we weren't even home the two days before giving them the meal, we had to make it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge.

I pre-cooked the chicken and put it in a casserole with the sauce to marinade.

I lightly sauteed the carrots and drizzled them with honey, butter and spices.

I cooked the Pasta for the Kugel, and combined the wet ingredients in a jar to pour on when ready to bake.

Halfway through our church service I put everything in the church oven and put them on time bake.

There were a few hitches I ran into in making this meal. First, I ran out of eggs, so I had to modify my Bread recipe! :) Secondly, the first batch of Brownies I made didn't turn out to my liking, so I whipped up another batch right before going to church. Other then that, this turned out to be a very good make ahead meal that was flexible and delicious.