Week of February 19: Especially Fast, Good Enough to Repeat

Quick, full meal

This was a strong week of super fast recipes. First a great new, super simple fish recipe. Next was a thoroughly well-rounded cherry pork loin chop with green beans and ginger-sesame sweet potato mash. Spinach tortellini sounded like an easy way to work spinach into PMM, and next up was a lentil curry. Lunch leftovers were wonderful all week.

Friday finished with a meal after PMM went to bed- shrimp in a white wine sauce served over marinara polenta. It looks fancy, but truly was finished by the time bed-time stories were done!

Fancy grown-up food, in <15 minutes

Week of February 19:

Sunday: Red snapper w/ cilantro, lime, and ginger butter

Monday: Cherry glazed pork with green beans and sweet potato

Tuesday: Spinach tortellini

Wednesday: Indian lentil curry w/ yogurt

Thursday: Breakfast for dinner, including real Farmer’s Market Bacon!

Friday: Smoked paprika shrimp with polenta

Saturday: Falafel

Week of February 12

This week started of with unabashed decadence: bacon cooked salmon with bacon farro risotto and grilled butternut squash. The lamb was good, but after bacon cooked salmon, it’s all a bit downhill.

Bacon was the focus of Sunday's dinner

Week of February 12:

Sunday: Bacon cooked salmon, farro risotto with bacon, and grilled butternut squash

Monday: Homemade veggie pizza

Tuesday: Slow cooked Moroccan lamb w/ pine nut & spinach cous cous

Wednesday: Home-made black bean burgers, fruit salad

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Turkey sort-of picatta, grilled carrots and asparagus

Saturday: Take-out from Flavors of East Africa- the goat dish was the winner, but the chicken curry was a close second.

Week of February 5

I have declared this month Frugal February, and while the Ninja would laugh at me for thinking our grocery bills are any lower, I’m at least making an effort. I tried to think of ways to make cheaper food without sacrificing taste, healthiness, or much of my whim.

Hooray, Kaffir lime contact!

This becomes slightly more difficult when Perpetual Motion Machine and I see baskets of gorgeous, organic plump blackberries and raspberries at the Farmer’s Market. We bought them despite the $14 for three quarts. To make up for that splurge, PMM spun around the market looking adorable and exuding cheer, and was given a week’s worth of free oranges by various vendors. Way to go, kid.

Since the only fish she eats is salmon (and she’ll be happy enough to eat the whole salmon, if given the opportunity), I can’t scrap that for something cheaper. I am also reluctant to trade organic chicken and meat for the non-organic kind. I’ve mostly given up worrying about chemicals in me, but the idea of putting chemicals, antibiotics, etc. in my daughter’s 33lb body revolts me. Instead, we’re going to try to add at least one extra vegetarian meal a week- aiming for at least 2. Legumes are inexpensive, full of protein and fiber, and soak in all kinds of flavors exceptionally well. It’s also more environmentally responsible to eat less meat, so there’s not much of a down-side to this plan.

This week we had a veggie lasagna and an Indian style black-eyed pea dish. We’re still unrepentant omnivorous spenders, though- at the market I also found an organic meat farm from which I purchased thick cut bacon to sprinkle over the risotto I intended for Saturday (but which will be on next week’s menu).

Week of February 5:

Sunday: Tom yum chicken (emphasis on ‘yum’)

Monday: Sneaky spinach burgers, yam ‘fries’, and fruit salad

Tuesday: Grilled veggie lasagna

Wednesday: Indian black-eyed peas & brown rice

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Seafood sort-of scampi

Saturday: Farro risotto with grilled butternut squash and bacon- oops, no time! leftovers & sandwiches instead.

Week of January 29: Half-assing it

High sodium, but easy, used up leftovers, and taste-wise totally worth it

I began this week painfully uninspired. I’ve been working on the same 3 briefings at work for 4 days and feel like I’m stuck in mental mud. Worst of all, I’ve been phoning it in with Perpetual Motion Machine. I felt like I’ve been putting one proverbial foot in front of the other, through jello, in all aspects of life.

Once I recognized the funk I was in, though, I chose to fix it.

Artistically captured food rut- mac and cheese, slightly upgraded with ham and spinach

I couldn’t revise our meals for the week because we had the groceries, but I could take us to the zoo on Friday. PMM rode piggy-back to see the giraffes, rhinos, and red river hogs. We took photos in the booth where she delights in pushing the buttons and seeing us on the screen. We scampered over the animal print foot massage chairs. Few things are more inspiring than a giddy toddler.

We went to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday with license to buy on impulse- within reason and with a framework of a meal plan (chicken, salad) – to solve the pre-made components and uninteresting food rut. First thing Monday, I’ll finalize three solid presentations, too, because I’ve found my focus, drive, and interest again. Bad week, but great weekend.

Wow, this was good.

Fortunately, I have some decent staple meals in my stable (falafel, chickpea & tomato vindaloo) on which to fall back. And in retrospect, it wasn’t a bad as it seemed from the trenches. There were some decidedly bright dishes in this week’s line-up: the pork enchiladas were even better than the pork the first time around (though the sauce did come from a bottle) and the honey cardamom chicken was a new recipe that will definitely happen again.

Week of January 22:

Sunday: Tarragon lemon salmon, multi-grain pilaf, steamed broccoli

Monday: Pork enchiladas, salad, and green drink

Tuesday: Honey cardamom chicken

Wednesday: Ham mac & cheese, with kale and roasted butternut squash

Thursday: Chickpea and tomato vindaloo, with greens

Friday: Falafel

Saturday: (Guests) Roasted chicken, chive carrots, rosemary biscuits, goat cheese & kumquat salad, banana caramel tart

Super duper healthy chili

In our Vitamix (I mention Vitamix only b/c to do this requires a blender with a wide base, which I insisted I absolutely had to have during my pregnancy, with a zeal reserved for pregnant women), I blended:

• 1 small yellow squash I had baked for about 30 minutes at 350 deg
• 1 1/2 cup pre-chopped veggie blend (broccoli, carrot, radish, celery, green and red cabbages, jicama, and green bell pepper
• 1 cup kale
• 1/2 cup cleaned portobello mushrooms
• 1 can low-sodium tomatoes (with the juices)

This morning, I heated about 1/4 cup olive oil in a large stock pot and cooked about 1lb of 99% lean ground turkey until it was cooked- while cooking, I stabbed it repeatedly with a spatula to break it up into little pieces. For a vegetarian version, just skip this step, or use tofu if that suits you.

I added the blended veggies I had made last night (they were in the fridge), 2 more cans of low-sodium chopped tomatoes, 1 can each black and kidney beans, 1 can of corn, 1 tblsp chili powder, 1 tsp chipotle chili powder, and a whole lot of garlic-from-a-jar (probably a couple tblsps). And a big scoop- about 1 cup- of chopped onions.

Then I put the concoction, along with two potatoes (with holes poked in their tops- don’t forget this step) in the magic oven of the future and told it (by pushing buttons) to cook the food for 2 hrs at 350deg., to be finished at 5:45pm.

And lo, when I returned, dinner was made. And it was good.

Week of January 22

As mentioned last week, potty training a toddler evaporated my energy to the point I couldn’t quite get posts updated and recipes written. I decided to give myself a break and write-off the recipes from last week, so I’m starting this week with a clean slate- on which I think I managed to cook pretty spectacular pictures.

Slow cooked pork loin tacos

I think last week’s lunches were such a hodge-podge of whatever I could scavenge that my menu this week was unconsciously developed around the leftover potentials- I have 3 meals that involve slow-cooking large portions, and will store well for lunches through this week and next. Overall, it was a good week; I think my pictures have improved somewhat, too (doesn’t that taco look really good?).

Week of January 22:

Sunday: Panko and citrus crusted salmon, cabbage salad, quinoa, and broccoli (recipe here)

Monday: Pita chip chicken and eggplant caponata

Tuesday: Grilled ham and cheese, with roasted red pepper tomato soup

Wednesday: Shredded pork tacos, with pickled cabbage

Thursday: Super-duper healthy chili and baked potatoes

Friday: Chicken soup w/ matzo balls

Saturday: Leftovers

Week of January 8: Aaackk

I looked at my blog stats for the first time today and WOW! 39 views yesterday. That may not seem like a lot, perhaps, to people who don’t have a relatively brand new blog, but that’s big numbers for me, and I’m thrilled. That’s more people than my holiday card list! Hopefully all of those 39 people will cook something fabulous, or at least not straight-from-a-box tonight.

After M&Ms and popcorn for meals on my work site, this was awesome- until I had to donate half the salmon to the keep-PMM-happy salmon drive.

This is an odd week to gain sudden stardom (let me have my moment, ok?) because I’m also about a week behind, thanks to the busiest week yet. That tag line ‘Real Food for Real (Busy) Lives’? This week we’ve been heavy on the busy. I was expecting a work trip Monday and Tuesday, but things were going so well on the project that I got a call Friday afternoon telling me to come Saturday. So, Friday evening was spent scrambling to get reservations change (thank you, Lisa in my travel dept!), get packed, and get dinner for company made. And get plenty of Perpetual Motion Machine time in, since the weekends are our primary time together. Then two 15 hour work days and a travel day later, I’m a mess. A mess with a plan.

Fortunately, the Ninja worked his magic and got decent food on the table Saturday-Monday (he even emailed me pictures!). He did not, however, buy enough food for Tuesday and beyond. [Aside: Weeks don’t stop at Monday. Hopefully.] With all of my weekend work, though, I have some flex time so I had plenty of time for the grocery store. I miss having her around at the store because she’s fun, but 2 hours without a toddler is as productive, according to my sophisticated mathematical calculations, as approximately 9.7 hours without her.

Here’s how the week’s been, and where it’s going:

Week of January 8:

Ninja skills do not extend to my camera

Sunday:Spinach turkey burger, fruit salad, and

grilled butternut squash (ninja skills!)
Monday: BBQ chicken tenders, grilled beets, and some other stuff (I was too rushed to take a pic, and the whole week’s been a blur, so I can’t quite figure out what went with this- broccoli?)
Tuesday: Grilled soyaki salmon and carrots, green beans, and fruit salad
Wednesday: Indian style chicken and squash with farro
Thursday: Tandoori chicken, curry cauliflower, and naan
Friday: Tuna casserole
Saturday: Leftovers- there’s a lot of food!

Sweet potato and black bean quesadillas

We make this recipe regularly because it’s so fast, and also tasty. It’s got something for everyone- yam for PMM, chipotle dipping sauce for the Ninja, and all that healthy stuff plus a crispy shell that makes me happy, too.

Vegetarian quesadillas

Other bonuses to this dish are you can make enough for one, or for a whole houseful; it’s fast & easy; you can’t really screw it up, short of burning it to a crisp; it’s cheap, available year round, and the ingredients store well so we keep them around just in case we need a back-up meal.

BFD

'Never the twain shall meet'

Breakfast-for-dinner is a favorite of mine, and no one else seems to complain. That’s why I tagged it special occasion- having breakfast for dinner is its own occasion. I have one stringent requirement- pancakes must be served separately from eggs, because syrup-y eggs are truly unappealing. Otherwise, it can be french toast, waffles, bacon, sausage, etc. It can be vegetarian (leave out the ham), probably could be made vegan (skip the eggs altogether and go with a tofu scramble) though I wouldn’t bother, or be super meaty if that’s your thing. And, leftover green pancakes make great toddler snacks.

We had omelets, blueberry pancakes, and leftover latkes, too, which- when served with eggs and ketchup- can be retitled ‘hashbrowns.’

Latkes and fixin’s

In honor of Chanukah, and the traditions of my mother’s family, I make latkes once a year. I do not make latkes in honor of my mother’s latkes, since hers never stuck together. I don’t know what the secret is (though thorough draining may be it), but mine seem to work fine and my guests (and PMM) were pleased. Serve with sour cream or plain Greek yogurt and applesauce; I went with fruit and salad to balance out the sheer fried potato-ness of the meal.

Chanukah feast

I also made a beautiful kugel for dessert, courtesy of my friend at Savory Simple. Her recipe is here (my picture is below, half-eaten, but her pictures are beautiful). My only suggested alterations to her recipe are to

This looked so good we couldn't wait for photography before dessert.

1) add 1/2 tsp nutmeg or 1/4 tsp cardamom when you add the cinnamon; 2) if, when you add the eggs and noodles the liquid does not cover all of the noodles, beat up another 2 eggs and pour on top; 3) cover pan with tinfoil while baking. These last two things will keep the top noodles (which will eventually be the bottom noodles) from drying out and crisping.