Tag Archives | weekly meal plan

Piazole? What’s A Piazole?

By on June 2, 2011 in Making Dinner, Recipes

Family Dinner For A Large Group

So here’s the recipe and story about Steak Piazole.

Steak Piazole Recipe

Ingredients:

  1. beef round sirloin tip steaks, thin- 4-5lbs
  2. onion, white- 1 large, peeled and sliced into strips
  3. green bell pepper- 1, sliced into strips
  4. crushed tomatoes- 1 28oz. can
  5. beef broth- 1 can
  6. spaghetti pasta- 1½ lbs

Steak Staples:
• olive oil- a few tbspns
• minced garlic- 2 tbspns
• garlic salt
• dried oregano
• crushed red pepper flake (optional)
Spaghetti Staples:
• olive oil- ¼ cup
• minced garlic- 2 tbspns
• crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

My stepfather, “Skip” grew up in Connecticut in an Italian family.  When he and my mom would visit me he often talked about his favorite steak dish that his mom- God rest her soul- cooked.  Apparently, his mother never handed down her family-favorite recipe to anyone in the family.

So, I asked him to describe it the best he could, and then I got to work.

Directions:

The steak is extra tender when cooked in a slow cooker. Just follow skillet directions below using the slow cooker instead of the skillet on High for
6-7 hours.

Steak
1. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil with minced garlic in large deep skillet over medium-high heat
2. Season steaks with garlic salt, oregano and a little crushed red pepper (optional depending on how spicy you want it); place into skillet, turning
each one until slightly brown on both sides then stack then on top of another if needed
3. Add onion slices, bell pepper slices, tomatoes and broth; bring to boil; cover and reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until steak is tender;
approximately 60 minutes; or cook in slow cooker on high for 6-7 hours
Spaghetti
4. Boil spaghetti pasta in salted water until tender; drain pasta reserving some (about ½ cup) of the cooking water in pan; return spaghetti to warm
pan and water; toss
5. Add to spaghetti: olive oil,minced garlic and red pepper flakes (optional) to taste; toss well
Serve steak individually over spaghetti

Steak Piazole from The Organized Cook, Toni Spilsbury

Steak Piazole from The Organized Cook

With absolutely no recipe to go by, I attempted re-create a dish I had never eaten.  Everyone loved it and now I make it nearly every time they visit.

After seasoning and searing the steak with garlic, dried crushed peppers and olive oil, I leave it to simmer for hours in bell peppers, onions and tomatoes; the steak is so tender it flakes with a fork.  Then I serve it with spaghetti.  It’s the perfect dish for weekend company because it requires only minutes of my time to prepare and then I can leave it for half the day while I spend time with my guests.

Italian Salad from The Organized Cook

Italian Salad from The Organized Cook

When I decided to include it in my Weekly Meal Plan System, I had to give it a name.  “Steak with Peppers and Tomatoes”.  Too stale.  What would “Nonni” call it?  An entirely new name for this recipe seemed fitting since it was entirely new to me.  Skip threw out some names and we finally decided on “piazole”.

What’s a piazole?

It’s steak simmered in tomatoes and peppers after being seared with seasonings.

So, now you know.  We’ll see what Wikipedia has to say about that.

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Chicken Lettuce Wraps At Home

By on May 25, 2011 in Making Dinner

Chicken Lettuce Wraps are probably my most favorite meal during the warm months.  For years I enjoyed these carb-less entrees only at restaurants until I created a recipe to make it simple to cook at home.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps by The Organized Cook

Chicken Lettuce Wraps by The Organized Cook

 

Not only was I able to create an easy recipe, I was also able to incorporate it into my Weekly Meal Plan System.  For subscribers to The Organized Cook, this is what’s on the menu this week.

I will admit it took me about a half dozen times to get the sauce right.  Too much rice wine vinegar can spoil a perfectly good chicken lettuce wrap.

Here’s the brilliant thing.  For my Asian Noodle Soup to serve alongside this easy dish, I used leftover cooked spaghetti.  This soup doesn’t look “leftover” to you, does it?  Of course not!  It’s been “reincarnated”.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps in The Organized Cook Weekly Meal Plan System

Chicken Lettuce Wraps in The Organized Cook Weekly Meal Plan System

The Organized Cook Weekly Meal Plan

 

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Aloha!

By on May 25, 2011 in Making Dinner

If there was ever one meal that I made that everyone just couldn’t get enough of- this would be it.

Aloha Meatballs.

Aloha Meatballs from The Organized Cook

Aloha Meatballs from The Organized Cook

In this recipe I use a combination of red, orange and yellow bell peppers which go perfectly with the soy-ginger taste of the meatballs.  They also give it that tropical look.  What’s even better, I only used half of these diced bell peppers for this recipe, and the other half I stored for Thursday night to make Fire Rice.

Beefy Chimi and Fire Rice by The Organized Cook

Beefy Chimi and Fire Rice by The Organized Cook

I call it “Fire Rice” because of it’s color, not the flavor; although if fire is just what you’re in the mood for, adding some chipotle seasoning to this rice dish should sure do the trick.

 

 

 

These recipes are from one of my “Family-Favorites” menus that I should rename to something like “A Trip Across The Globe”- from Hawaii to Italy, China and Mexico- this menu covers them all… and for less than $100 in groceries!

This is what’s on the menu this week for subscribers to The Organized Cook:

The Organized Cook Weekly Meal Plan System Menu

If you’re not a subscriber to The Organized Cook Weekly Meal Plan System, the good news is that this meal plan can be purchased individually now in our Store, with no subscription obligation.  This is a perfect opportunity to sample The Organized Cook and this menu from around the world.

 


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Who Doesn’t Love Fried Chicken?

By on May 17, 2011 in Making Dinner

Well- besides my vegan friend- who doesn’t love fried chicken?

For subscribers to The Organized Cook, Ranch Fried Chicken is what’s on the menu this week and it’s a family favorite for me.

Ranch Fried Chicken by The Organized Cook

Ranch Fried Chicken by The Organized Cook

Doing something as simple as adding ranch dressing mix to the flour coating can make a classic meal like fried chicken something to talk about.  This week’s menu is all about the classics:

The Organized Cook Weekly Meal Plan

Kid Favorites

This week’s menu is both healthy and kid friendly with items like fried chicken, quesadillas and pot pie.  Making dinnertime fun for kids is the trick I find to help get them out of ruts.  Dress up chili with bowls of fun things for them to garnish:

Kid Friendly Chili by The Organized Cook

Kid Friendly Chili

Shredded Cheese The Organized Cook

Garnish Chili with Shredded Cheese

Goldfish Crackers The Organized Cook

Whole Grain Goldfish Crackers

 

And, for all you vegetarians out there…. stuffed pasta shells.

Helping Hands In The Kitchen

Stuffed Pasta Shells is another perfect meal that’s easy for kids to help.  My girls love to help me in the kitchen, and sometimes it feels like more work finding something for them to do.  At 7 and 5-years old, stuffing pasta shells with cheese mixture is easy and fun.  I enjoy sharing my passion for cooking with them.

Stuffed Pasta Shell by The Organized Cook

Stuffed Pasta Shell by The Organized Cook

Stuffed Pasta Shell by The Organized Cook

Stuffed Pasta Shell by The Organized Cook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reincarnating The Leftover

What to do…. what to do… with that leftover fried chicken.  Using a simple technique I like to call “reincarnating the leftover“, that leftover Ranch Fried Chicken- with a little help from my good friend, frozen puff pastry- is now reincarnated into Chicken Pot Pie.  Every time I say or hear “chicken pot pie”, I either hear that chicken from the movie Chicken Run say (in Brittish accent), “I don’t want to be a pie.”  Or, I (depending on who is around) immediately say, “chicken pot pie and I don’t care”…. I’m not sure why, but I can’t help it.

Chicken Pot Pie by The Organized Cook

Chicken Pot Pie by The Organized Cook

Saving Money on Family Dinners

This week’s Weekly Meal Plan will only cost you about $90 in groceries- that’s without sales or coupons.  I would love to hear back from my readers who cooked this week’s menu about how much they spent on groceries with this week’s shopping list.  Just leave a comment below, or email me at toni@tonispilsbury.com, or on Facebook.

 

Subscribe to The Organized Cook

It’s not too late to get this week’s Weekly Meal Plan.  Subscribe now to The Organized Cook.  Remember, you can cancel at any time, but you won’t want to- it’s that good.

The Organized Cook Weekly Meal Plan

 

 

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