Semi-Fine Dining

Well, Sunday is here and that means Monday tomorrow, but hopefully you all had a super weekend! We had Friday off of school for homecoming and such, so I was not complaining of a 3 day weekend =) So what did I do with 3 days? Homework, cleaned, shopped, and cooked a meal for my dad and I! He hasn’t seen my apartment since it was all boxes because he’s a over-the-road trucker, so our schedules usually conflict. This weekend my mom was gone, so it was perfect!

Not seeing my dad for 3 months was extremely crazy—he makes me laugh, and I needed a dose of dad humor and of course a big hug! I already knew what was on the menu for us—he and I are huge seafood fans (my mom doesn’t like it), so here’s our menu! It turned out fabulous!

Dad & Daughter Menu

• Crab Stuffed Chicken (recipe here)
• Homemade Roasted Garlic Wheat Bread (recipe below)
• Sliced Garden Tomatoes
• Brown Sugar Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, and Fennel (recipe below)

My dad was so excited—check out when I delivered his plate to him! (don’t mind the hat hair ha ha)

Love him!

With a look at this, could you blame him for his excitement?

Brown Sugar Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, and Fennel

(This was so flavorful, and perfect as a side dish for any fall meal!)

Serves:4

Ingredients:

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 3 large carrots
• 2 fennel bulbs
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp olive or canola oil
• Salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 F.
• Peel sweet potatoes and carrots in to your desired size/shape.
• Slice fennel bulb and cut into four sections.
• Toss all veggies with oil and brown sugar. Add salt and pepper.
• Take a casserole dish or roasting pan and spread veggies in a single layer.
• Cover pan with tinfoil and roast for 45-60 minutes, stirring every 15-20 mins. Roast until sweet potatoes and carrots are tender and fennel starts to brown.

Roasted Garlic Wheat Bread (bread machine)

Makes 2 pound loaf

Ingredients:

• 1 c water
• 1/2 sour cream
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 c bread flour
• 2 c whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp wheat germ
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

Directions:

• Place ingredients in bread machine in above order.
• Choose wheat bread cycle if available, otherwise just the standard.

If you do not have a bread machine, you could easily make this my prepping yeast, mixing, and letting rise, then baking. I would suggest following another similar oven-baked bread recipe for a basic time guideline.