Meal Plan for August

{Pierogi Casserole}

We have had an AMAZING summer here in central Alaska!  I have never had ripe tomatoes from my garden in mid-July and they keep coming.  The lettuce is even doing well in this heat.  August is the month that we start having meals from the garden or at least some of the ingredients come from the garden.  Here is what is on the list:

BLT's- with the plethora of tomatoes and lettuce we will be eating my sons' favorite type of sandwich.  We NEVER get tired of these!

  Pierogi Casserole

• 9 lasagne noodles, uncooked
• 4 cups hot mashed potatoes
• 1/2 cup (1/2 of 250g tub) Philadelphia Herb & Garlic cream cheese spread
• 6 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 pkg. (80 g) Oscar Mayer Real Bacon Recipe Pieces, divided
• 2 cups Kraft Double Cheddar shredded cheese, divided

1. Heat oven to 375°F.
2. Cook noodles as directed on package, omitting salt. Meanwhile, combine mashed potatoes, cream cheese spread, onions, 1/2 cup bacon and 1 cup Cheddar.
3. Place 3 noodles in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; cover with 1/3 of the potato mixture. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining bacon and Cheddar; cover.
4. Bake 30 min. or until heated through. Uncover; bake 3 to 5 min. or until Cheddar is lightly browned. Let stand 10 min. before cutting to serve.
5. NOTE:  The instructions say use a 9 by 13 pan, but a smaller one would work also. 

 Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

{This is one of our favorites!}

The chicken coating:

3-4 boneless chicken breasts

salt + pepper

1 cup cornstarch

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup canola oil

The sweet and sour sauce:

3/4 cup sugar

4 tbs ketchup

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp garlic salt

       Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees. Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs.  Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes.

Hawaiian Grilled Chicken {See the link here.  Looks yummy!!}

{From The Girl Who Ate Everything}

Cowboy Quiche 

{Because according to Ree Drummond and Aristotle "Real Cowboys Eat Quiche."  My cowboy grandpa would have probably not agreed!  Here is the link.}

Polynesian Meatballs

I tend to pick my meals so that they are not all labor intensive.  This month the only really hard meal to put together is the sweet and sour chicken.  Not that it is hard.  It is just a time-consuming process.  But it is one of our favorite meals so every few months I make it.  It is also a favorite of the family that we share meals with.  So there is more motivation to make it from time to time.  The Pierogi Casserole and the quiche will take a bit of time (although not as long as the sweet and sour chicken).  The other recipes take almost no time at all to throw together.