Menu Planner to benefit Ronald McDonald House

I had the pleasure of visiting the Ronald McDonald House last week on beautiful Monument Avenue in Richmond. The Ronald McDonald House has nine guests room and houses families who have children receiving medical treatment at our local hospitals. The home is lovely, warm and inviting. There is a $15 suggested donation per night to stay at the Ronald McDonald House but families will not be turned away if they can't provide the donation. What a wonderful service for our Richmond community! But they can't do it without support.

For the past six years, the Ronald McDonald House and Dillard's have teamed up to provide a Southern Living Christmas cookbook for $10. The cookbook is available at Dillard's Short Pump Town Center, Stony Point Fashion Park as well as online. Proceeds go directly to our Richmond Ronald McDonald House. For more details, click here.

The Ronald McDonald House graciously gave me a copy of the cookbook and asked if I would try out one of the recipes in the book. I was thrilled at the opportunity. Southern Living is known for wonderful recipes and decorating tips. The 2013 Southern Living Christmas cookbook does not disappoint. It has decorating tips in the front as well as pages and pages of fabulous recipes. Such a tremendous value for $10. Buy one for yourself, family and friends and help support the Richmond Ronald McDonald House.

We made two recipes over the weekend from the book. I also served the Quick Turkey Chili (page 121) at my mom's birthday dinner last week. It was a super easy to pull together and a hit with everyone.

Camille, Clyde and I made the Snowy Chocolate Baby Cakes (page 218) on Sunday morning in time for after lunch dessert. They are super delicious, the sour cream made them so moist. I didn't have meringue powder for the Winter White Glaze so I used egg white and it worked fine. I ended up pouring the white glaze on the cupcake instead of spreading with a knife and this technique worked much better.

For dinner last night, I served the Greek-Style Meatloaf Sandwiches (page 163). This recipe called for 2 pounds of ground chicken and made 6-8 servings. I used 1 pound and the other ingredients easily cut in half to make a smaller portion. This was definitely a great twist on meatloaf sandwiches and very tasty!

This week's menu planner features recipes from the 2013 Southern Living Christmas Cookbook.

Monday: Greek Style Meatloaf Sandwiches (Page 163)
Tuesday: Sausage and Ravioli Lasagna (Page 145)
Wednesday: Roasted Vegetable Gnocchi with Spinach Herb Pesto (Page 191)
Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving! If you are cooking, this book includes several great recipes for Roasted Turkey & Baked Ham as well as many, many recipes for sides, appetizers and desserts.
Friday: Use your leftovers and make Turkey Tostadas with Spicy Cranberry-Chipotle Sauce (Page 164)

This cookbook includes so many wonderful recipes not only for the holidays but for all year long. Included are some of our "go-to" recipes that you will see repeated on my weekly menu planner such as Oven Chicken Risotto and Light King Ranch Casserole. This cookbook is not just for recipes to be made at Christmas, you can use it all year long.

Please buy one today and support the Richmond Ronald McDonald House. They are available for a steal (only $10) at Dillard's Short Pump Town Center, Stony Point Fashion Park as well as online.  After you purchase the cookbook, if you are still want to help the Ronald McDonald House, refer to their wishlist below.

The Ronald McDonald House Richmond provided me with this cookbook. All reviews and opinions are my own.