Meals on 5/31

This week was special because we were away over the weekend, so I specifically took off Tuesday and Wednesday (today) so I made sure to have time to do all the adult things like cooking and laundry and renewing my car registration.

So I didn’t make as many dishes, and I’ll still probably cook again on Sunday for the following week. But what I did make really highlights the fact that it’s grilling season!!

I did make a slow cooker dish, just so I had something that I was just a set it and forget it meal….this Chicken and Orzo that we’ve had a ton of times before. It’s a go to for me when I want to have a dish that is a whole meal really easily.

Then I made this super simple Grilled Peppers with Burrata – I was too lazy to make and add the breadcrumbs, which it honestly kind of needed for some texture variety, but it was tasty.

I did this Grilled Chicken, Asparagus, and Artichoke Pasta that has a nice lightly lemony creamy sauce. It’s pretty delicious, was simple to put together, and is well-rounded.

I do think I’m going to try to cut back on pasta, but I had this on the meal plan already and since we had been away I just didn’t feel like changing or updating it. Not that pasta is bad, it just makes me feel weighed down and often a little inflamed the day after.

And the best part of this meal….we made Grilled Hoisin Beef. This is one of my favorite marinades ever, and I think I’m actually going to make a container of it to keep on hand for whenever we want to marinate meat. We ended up marinating for a full day mostly just because that’s how the timing worked, but we ended up with juicy and incredibly flavor packed steak.

And we grilled some corn too, because that’s just what you do in the summer.

That’s it for this week folks!

Mother’s Day Menu

So I didn’t meal prep for us, because I’ll be away most of the week. But I did put together a menu for Mother’s Day that was mostly a hit. Only one fail, and one thing we couldn’t do because we’re not quite in season yet.

I had my grandma make this Mozarella and Strawberry Bruschetta and it was pretty good. My great aunt made a cheese and chutney dip of her own choosing, served with celery and carrots. That was pretty much it for appetizers.

The sides were the Heirloom and Tomato Salad with Pearl Couscous that I make on the regular, and my mom made a spinach saladCitrus Apple Spinach Salad from the side of the bottle for the Stonewall Kitchen Honey Orange Balsamic Dressing.

Mains were one of our favorites, these Mango Chicken Kabobs, and Teriyaki Pineapple Burgers which was a new recipe but we’ve had similar things before just never used that specific recipe.

The desserts were where we ran into problems. Luckily we had purchased gelato from Gelato Fiasco, and my uncle got excellent fruit per usual. But we tried to make this Chocolate Yogurt Parfait and honestly, because it was Greek yogurt it really just was too bitter. I would have modified to use vanilla yogurt, and probably more maple syrup, and possibly not even Greek yogurt although I like the consistency. We had also hoped for Mango Peach Cobbler but it’s a little too early for peaches.

Altogether a success though!

Weekly meals for the week of 5/7

Been a while since I posted, have been traveling a lot and not doing as much food prep. as much time as it takes, it feels good to be back making good food choices.

For breakfast this week I’ll be having quiche…I added spinach to the recipe, throwing it in with the parsley, so that I’d have some veg.

I’ve been wanting to try this Jaeger Schnitzel for a while. Hubby is German and there’s some good food options there, but I’ve always been a little afraid of frying meats. Turned out really nice actually, although the gravy could have been a little thicker with a little less mushroom for us.

I also made this Caprese Chicken dish, using mozzarella instead of havarti. The smashed potatoes didn’t come out as crispy as I liked, makes me think maybe instead of boiling we should microwave them first, less water can get absorbed then.

Because I’m trying to get more veg in my life but wanted to stick to the theme, I also made a caprese salad that was originally posted on cookinglight.com but the url isn’t working so it seems to have been taken down from the site. I like to use the pints of multicolored tomatoes to get good variety.

SERVINGS: Serves 6 (serving size: 3/4 cup)

INGREDIENTS
• 3 cups halved Sun Gold cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup halved young Cherokee Purple tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 ounces small fresh mozzarella balls
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/3 cup torn fresh basil

PREPARATION STEPS
1. Combine all ingredients except basil in a large bowl; toss gently. Top with basil.

NOTE
We use young Cherokee Purple heirloom tomatoes here to balance the sweetness of Sun Golds with a little acid and umami depth, but other red cherry tomatoes will work well also. Caprese salad is the perfect keep-it-simple summer recipe, since ripe tomatoes need very little adornment—just a lap of fruity olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, bright basil, and rich fresh cheese make them sing.

And last but not lease I made this Asparagus and Avocado Salad which I haven’t tried yet but am looking forward to. And I will also be making this Persian Chicken with Turmeric and Lime that we’ve had and loved numerous times.