Nosh and Celebrate

A look at last week's dinner menu:

Monday
Blake was out of town for work, so I just ate odds and ends.  I tend to do that when left to fend for myself - usually meals consist of vegetables dipped in hummus and bread with cheese.  It's simple, but it keeps me happy.

Tuesday
Spicy Sriracha Chicken & Quinoa Bowl
Salad

*Verdict: This is quickly becoming one of our favorite dishes. It's quick and delicious and fairly healthy.  It is great the next day as leftovers for lunch, too, which adds to its appeal.

Wednesday
Caribbean Jerk Salmon Bowl with Mango Salsa

*Verdict: WOW. I'm adding this to our rotation for sure.  It tasted light, fresh and extremely flavorful.  I think it's the perfect way to use an inexpensive (frozen) piece of Salmon.  The jerk spices take away any of the fishy taste that a cheaper piece of fish may have.  Win-win!

Thursday
BLAKE'S BIRTHDAY!
Avocado Chicken Enchiladas
Spicy rice and beans
Dark Chocolate Sorbet

Verdict: The Avocado Enchiladas are at the top of Blake's list and he requested them specifically for his birthday dinner.  I'm not sure if that says something about how good they are, or just how mediocre the Mexican restaurants are around here, but either way I call it a success.  I substitute plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream in the sauce and you can't tell the difference.

And ok.  This dark chocolate sorbet?  Run, don't walk, to your nearest grocery store to buy the ingredients.  It's the most chocolatey dessert you'll ever taste - Blake declared it his new favorite dessert of all time.  We served it with fresh raspberries and Heath Bar pieces.  It is decadent to the extreme.  I wish I'd taken pictures because it turned out beautifully, but we ate it all before I thought to do so - it was that good.

On another food-related, but not cooking note: I wanted the birthday celebrations to start out nice and early, so we started the morning off right by having Blake blow out candles on a stack of donuts.  There's nothing quite like waking up to a chocolate donut pile, am I right?

And because we wanted it to be an even 20,000 calorie day, we met up for lunch downtown at Taylor Gourmet for a Race Street and a bag of jalapeño chips.  It doesn't get much better than that.  A day full of food and celebrating my Blake.  That's my idea of a good time.

More Eatin'

I've been slacking this week because of the snow day and because we're traveling for a long weekend,  which means frozen pizzas, quesadillas and bagels.  But here's what we ate last week.

Monday
Tortellini pepperoni salad
Steamed broccoli

Verdict: The tortellini salad was yummy, but if you're looking for a healthy meal, this probably isn't it.


Tuesday
Minted orzo salad with feta and chickpeas
Fruit

Verdict:  This was so fresh-tasting and delicious.  It's the sort of meal I could make once a week and eat every day for lunch.  I think I accidentally doubled the recipe and we had tons of leftovers, which was great.  You can eat it warm or cold.

Wednesday
Baked asian salmon
Rice
Salad

No recipe here.  I just mix up soy sauce, spicy pepper paste and brown sugar to marinate a salmon filet. Then I bake it at 375 for 40 mins.  Always a crowd pleaser.

Thursday
Balsamic salmon pasta
Salad

Again, no recipe here, but an old favorite.  I marinate a salmon filet in balsamic, garlic and bake with lemon slices.  Then I flake the salmon and mix it in with pasta, feta, kalamata olives, red onions, broccoli and balsamic dressing.  Easy, healthy and delicious.  Can also be served hot or cold.

Last week's eats

Last week we had a holiday on Monday and a couple of the meals I made had copious leftovers, so it was a pretty easy week as far as cooking was concerned.

Here's the run-down.

Tuesday
Meatballs subs
Salad

Meatball subs don't really require a recipe and they are the ultimate comfort food.  I buy the frozen italian meatballs at Trader Joes, the French rolls at TJ's, sliced provolone and then I either buy make my own marinara sauce.  This last time I made my own, but my favorite easy-fix is Newman's Own Sockerooni - that stuff is amazing.

Wednesday
Indian Red Lentils over basamati rice

Talk about quick and delicious ways to eat healthy.  This was fast, cheap, and filling (sounds like I'm describing a high-quality hooker...but I digress).

My only caution would be to cut the recipe in half unless you're feeding a family of ten.  We were eating left-overs for days.

Thursday
Asian Turkey Burgers
Steamed broccoli

I've been making this recipe for years, but it's adapted from this one.  I basically use whatever I have on hand - usually onions, water chestnuts, soy sauce and spicy red pepper paste.

The problem with turkey burgers is that they often turn out quite dry.  That's what makes this recipe so great.  They come out moist and flavorful every time.  I usually top with provolone and spicy deli mustard on a wheat bun.  Yum!

Sunday
Amish cinnamon bread

I always get the baking bug on Sunday afternoons, but I'm also usually wiped out on Sunday afternoons.  Enter the easiest baking projects known to man.  This one took approximately five minutes of prep time and made the house smell wonderful while it cooked.  I liked it so much that I made another loaf for a friend earlier this week.

Disclaimer: this is more like cake and less like bread...but if it helps you feel better about eating an extra slice, let's just continue to call it bread.

And one more about Valentine's Day

Just another quick note about Valentine's Day.

We were planning to go out to eat at a fancy French restaurant, but we were snowed in and sniffling like crazy, so we did the ultimate romantic thing and ordered a pizza. It was grand.

And, not to leave it at a simple unhealthy dinner, we added a very unhealthy dessert.  It turned out great, though, so I had to share.

I made dark chocolate caramel fondue from the recipe found here and it was amazing.  The best part?  It only took about 10 minutes (including the time it took to unwrap all those caramels and wash the fruit).  There's no question I'd make it again.  I think it would be wonderful as a fudge sauce for ice cream, too.  Honestly, I'd eat it with a spoon if given the chance.

More meal success stories

More successful new recipe attempts from a couple weeks ago:

Monday
Baked black bean taquitos
Salad

*Verdict: Blake declared this to rank in his top five favorite meals.  They were delicious, healthy and easy.

Tuesday
Greek tortellini salad
Fruit

*Verdict:  Great!  I'm going to add this to my summertime rotation.

Wednesday
Chicken risotto
Salad

*Verdict:  Very good, but probably not worth the effort (stirring for an hour?! no thanks!).  I think you could achieve the same flavors just by having the veggies and chicken over rice.  But maybe I'm just lazy?

Thursday
Chicken taco salads
(I used the chicken recipe found here and made enough that we could have leftovers for several days)

*Verdict:  One of my old favorites.  Can't go wrong with fresh veggies, pulled Mexican chicken and cilantro lime rice.

Meal planning

I've had a goal in the past few months to try at least one new recipe every week for dinner.  My ideas were piling up on Pinterest, and I wasn't making any progress, so I decided to jump in headfirst.

To help further this effort and to cut the amount of food we throw away, I've been trying hard to meal plan every Monday for the rest of the week.  I generally plan meals for Monday - Thursday.  We usually eat with family or have a date night Friday or Saturday, and then we graze and eat leftovers on Sundays.

Not all of the recipes I've tried have been a success, but last week I tried three new recipes and loved all of them.  I thought I'd start recording my meal plans here so I can keep track of what I've made that I've liked or disliked.  Also, then I can refer back to it in a pinch when I'm too lazy to meal plan in the future.

I bought a rotisserie chicken at Costco last Monday and made it last for three meals (hence the plethora of chicken-centered meals last week).  By the fourth meal I was - understandably- over chicken and went veggie.

Monday
Rotisserie chicken
Steamed broccoli
Oven roasted garlic and bacon mashed potatoes  (I used turkey bacon because we prefer it)

*Verdict:  The roasted potatoes were incredible. I think I could eat them every week.

Tuesday
Chicken enchiladas (no recipe here, just an old standby)
Rice and bean with diced tomatoes and peppers
Raspberries

*Verdict: Nothing too adventurous, but always a crowd pleaser.  I did find that I like the Giant brand enchilada sauce more than any other I've tried.

Wednesday
Chicken Yakisoba

*Verdict: Good, but not my favorite thing I've ever made.  It did have a ton of veggies in it, so that was a plus.

Thursday
Indian Spiced Chickpea and Fire Roasted Tomato soup  (I didn't like the texture, so I blended this and it was divine)
Bread
Salad

*Verdict: I think I'm adding this to the "go-to" recipe list.  It was easy, cheap, and delicious.

Sunday (baking)
Swig sugar cookies

*Verdict:  YUM. Just about the easiest sugar cookie you could make because it doesn't need to be rolled out and cut.