Meal Planning: Week of June 2nd

Review from last week:

We had the Christensens over on Friday evening and Greg made a delicious flank steak.  Flank is becoming one of my favorites for sure.  I roasted carrots with rosemary and asparagus.

The next evening we had steak salad:

On Sunday we had roasted chicken and sauteed kale.  Greg liked the kale so much that he special requested it the next day.  And they say you can't change a man.

On Monday, Hilary and Violet came to visit!  We never ended up purchasing cedar planks, (we saw them on Amazon for much, much cheaper!) but we still grilled it and it was delicious.

On Tuesday, the new margarita glasses I had ordered from Mexico (that took FOREVER to arrive - customs, yo) came - so naturally, we had to give them a shot.  We also made a Costco run - so we had chips, dip and margaritas for dinner when we got home!

I worked late on Wednesday, so Greg made the first of our Blue Apron dinners: Orange Shrimp with sauteed scallions and bok choy over jasmine rice.  It was SO good.

I made the Ratatouille Filled Zucchini with tomato basil quinoa, and I loved this one so much.  I had never really made or enjoyed eggplant before Blue Apron, but this is my second time making it and loving it!

Plan for next week:

Friday:  With Hilary in town, I'm trying to soak up as much time with her as I can!  We are going to go out for dinner and drinks on Friday evening and leave the kiddos at home.  I'm going to make a batch of Greg's favorite Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken for he and Ben to have.

Saturday: We are going to make the last of our Blue Apron meals from the previous week tonight - Vietnamese Summer Rolls with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce.

Sunday: Halibut Veracruzana with Rice.

Monday: Grilled flank steak and roasted baby potatoes.

Tuesday: Blue Apron Meal: Seared Pork Medallions with Rhubarb Chutney & Sauteed Freekah.

Wednesday: Blue Apron Meal: Maple & Ginger Glazed Salmon with Watercress, Orange & Parsnip Salad.

Thursday: Lemon-Parsley Chicken Thighs with Squash & Zucchini Salad and Red Quinoa.

Meal Planning: Week of May 26th

Review from last week:

I absolutely loved the lentil soup.  If I could do it again, I would dice the carrots even smaller and make sure they were softer before adding the lentils.  They were a tad crunchy, but I didn't mind too much.

Greg grilled hot dogs, bacon, cheeseburgers and chicken to cover us for 2 nights of dinner. 

Triple protein burgers:

Korean Stir-Fried Beef Chapchae with Sweet Potato Vermicelli.  I really liked this one, aside from the fact that the noodles looked like worms:

This was a surprise favorite of mine - I had assumed this meal would be a little bland (snap peas and WTF are ramps?), but I loved it so much.  I also liked it because there were very few ingredients (at least compared to many of their other dishes).  I wonder if they have heard the complaint that their meals can take awhile to prepare and took it down a notch?

Another surprise winner was the salmon roll sandwiches.  I would have opted out of this meal if I had been able to, but I'm really glad I didn't!  

Plan for next week:

My goal with the weather starting to get nicer (and Greg's desire to GRILL ALL THE FOOD), is to start exploring more of Blue Apron's non-meat options.  Lately they have been sounding SO good!  And that way, we can eat meat to our hearts content all the other days :)

Additionally, after buying our new table, we have earned a "reward" at Crate and Barrel.  Our plan is to purchase a grilling pizza stone and a cedar plank to spice up grilling season this year.

Friday:  We are having the Christensens over for dinner, and will be grilling flank steak and roasting asparagus and rosemary carrots.

Saturday: Damn Fine Chicken and sauteed kale.

Sunday: Grilled Panzanella and grilled steak

Monday: Grilled Cedar Plank Salmon and Roasted Baby Potatoes

Tuesday: Grilled pizza (with pre-made dough, brie, prosciutto, arugula - whatever we have in our fridge we need to use up).

Wednesday:  Blue Apron Meal: Pan-Fried Orange Shrimp with Sauteed Scallions & Bok Choy over Jasmine Rice.

Thursday:  Blue Apron Meal: Vietnamese Summer Rolls with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce.  This reminds me so much of my friend Charisse's recipe for spring rolls that Greg and I both loved (but have never attempted to make ourselves).  I'm hoping these are just as good! 

Friday: Blue Apron Meal: Ratatouille-Filled Zucchini with Tomato and Basil Quiona.  

Misc Photo Catch Up

Playing "telephone":

Freshly bathed and looking for squirrels:

Play-doh:

Garbage truck sighting: 

Riding the fish at Forest Park:

Speech Therapist (Katie) reading to Ben:

Dirty, dirty boy playing outside:

Dancing and playing with Myles:

Playing on the computer with Grandpa:

Playing at the park:

Relaxing on the deck:

Helping me weed:

Reading "Goodnight, goodnight, Construction Site".  As we said goodnight to each truck, he would run and find a matching toy truck (cement mixer, dump truck, etc.) and give each one a kiss.  

On Sunday, Greg ran Beat the Bridge, an 8K race put on by Nordstrom!  Since he had to leave pretty early to get down there and check in, Ben and I rooted him on from home:

Meal Planning: Week of May 19th

Review from last week:

My Mother's Day surf and turf was great!  I'm loving flank steak more and more lately.  I'm so excited that grilling season is upon us!

Not pictured, but we had halibut chipolte on Sunday.  I URGE you to make a big batch of this sauce (recipe in last week's post).  I swear, it's so good and something easy to store in the freezer when you don't have a lot of time to cook.  Just thaw and saute fish or chicken in it and you are all set.

Lemon/Artichoke chicken.  I added prosciutto (because, duh) - such a simple and quick dinner to make.  

We dined outside (4 nights in a row)because the weather was gorgeous.  I'm really happy we moved our outdoor table to the deck and bought an umbrella!  It helps to keep my complexion nice and pale.

And once Ben was finished eating, he played in the dirt:

Upon reviewing the Blue Apron menu for last week, I opted out of 2 of the meat options and went with 1 fish dish and 2 vegetarian dishes.  (I didn't ask Greg to chime in on this one...)!  I have always wanted to learn how to make a delicious lentil soup, plus the pizza sounded SO good.

And it was - here is the pizza as I was preparing it:

And the final product:

I learned 2 things in making this pizza:

1) Pizza is better with meat.  (Although I really liked this combination, I think I prefer sweet potatoes in the form of PALEO NACHOS).

2) When in doubt, throw a salad on top of your pizza.  

And PS, I received an email a few hours before my delivery arrived on Tuesday from Blue Apron telling me that they had learned that the fontina cheese had not been included in my package.  They automatically issued me a $10 credit - $5 for the price of the cheese and another $5 for the inconvenience.  Just another display of great customer service on their part!

The blackened fish over cheddar grits was surprisingly good.  The fact that Greg loved grits was not a surprise.  I didn't realize how easy grits were to make.

Plan for next week:

Friday: We didn't make our last Blue Apron meal as planned on Thursday, so we are having Black Lentil Soup tonight.

Saturday: Greg is running an 8K on Sunday morning (!!!) so I thought we should take advantage and carb up on Saturday.  Where better than the Spaghetti Factory!

Sunday:   Triple Protein Burgers and corn on the cob

Monday: BLT Chopped Salad with Corn, Feta and Avocado with Grilled Chicken

Tuesday: Blue Apron Meal: Korean Stir-Fried Beef Chapchae with Sweet Potato Vermicelli

Wednesday: Blue Apron Meal: Salmon Roll Sandwiches with Baby Beet & Pea Shoot Salad

Thursday: Chicken Supremes with Sauteed Ramps, Sugar Snap Peas and Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Mother's Day 2014/Weekend Recap

What a lovely weekend - it felt like I was celebrating all weekend long!

On Friday evening, I got to escape and go over to Rachel's to catch up over wine.  Raleigh was sleeping the ENTIRE TIME, which was kind of annoying as I had wanted to snuggle him, but it allowed us ample boozing time so I'll give him a pass.

On Saturday, we took a trip to a new park that Greg had stumbled upon and it was so fun!  Ben obviously had a blast.

Next, we stopped by Home Depot and purchased a black out shade for Ben's room.  He apparently liked it, because he napped that afternoon for 4 hours.  :) :) :)  Greg and I finally got to watch the last few episodes of Breaking Bad.  

Saturday evening Greg made a DELICIOUS dinner of grilled flank steak and crab cakes, while I contributed by roasting asparagus and making buerre blanc sauce.  I swear, it's hard not to feel health-conscious as you are whipping up 12 tablespoons of butter, but once you taste it - you stop caring.  Completely.

On Sunday Morning, Ben slept until 8 (THANK YOU, BLACK OUT SHADE) and then Greg made us breakfast.  

Next up, we piled in the car to walk around Greenlake.  I had warned Greg ahead of time that he had better try to find parking far away from the P-A-R-K, as I knew once Ben saw that he would not be at all interested in riding in the stroller during our walk....but apparently he forgot ;)  We spent the next 45 ish minutes watching Ben leaning WAY over, pointing towards the ground and shouting, "I want to WALK".  LOL.

When we came home, it was nap time - so I spent some forcing myself to sit down (and not clean) and catch up on some reading ;)

I am happy to say that I feel soooooo thankful and lucky and deliriously happy every day of the year that I get to be this guy's mama.  I truly never knew it could be this good to be a parent.  :)