Meal Planning: Week of February 24th

Review from last week:

As I mentioned before, Valentine's Day was a hit :)  We made our own crab cake sauce from scratch, and it was great.  Went well with the steak, too.



On Saturday, after having a few cups of coffee, Greg went for a 5 mile run (show off) while I took Ben for a long, hilly walk.  And then we came home and stuffed our faces ;)

More skillet eggs:

I also baked blueberry buttermilk muffins.  My friend Lisa sent me the recipe and I couldn't resist making them.  

I also made a batch of fudge brownies (from a box), but added in some spinach that both Greg and Ben did not detect was an ingredient, which was quite satisfying :)  I used a Veggie Blend-In, which is just pureed vegetables that I bought instead of spending my own time washing, cutting, and pureeing myself.

I didn't end up making halibut last week, but I DID make the Ricotta Meatballs and they were fantastic.  So much flavor.  Ben woke up from his nap on Tuesday evening (he went down late) and kept saying, "I'm hanky...I'm hanky"....until I FINALLY figured out he was saying, "I'm HUNGRY", and proceeded to devour 1 large meatball, zucchini noodles, macaroni and cheese, sourdough toast with butter, and several grapes.  AND he had room for animal crackers and a few bites of spinach-brownie.  Success!!!

And speaking of zucchini noodles (or, "zoodles"), I finally used the contraption I purchased a week ago and these were so much fun.  My friend Kristin told me all about it, as she has been following a Paleo diet for several months, and I'm looking forward to using it to spiral many more vegetables!

Finally, worth noting, my friend Brenna posted a picture of her turkey/spinach/mac and cheese combo she came up with, and it made me want to make it for myself (and for Ben).  I replaced the spinach with brussels sprouts and it was such a satisfying lunch :)  (Greg stayed far away as he hates brussels sprouts, ground turkey, and thinks Annie's Organic Mac and Cheese is the most ridiculous thing ever when Kraft is available at 1/3 the cost - along with all it's delicious chemicals) ;)

This next week will be mostly a "use what you have" week.  When we can hardly open our freezer because it's stuffed full of halibut and salmon (notttttttt complaining), and our pantry has enough various boxed dinners and ingredients to make food for a month, we will only need to buy dairy and produce this week.

Friday:  We were invited to have dinner at Dan and Jeannette's house, so no plans here :)

Saturday: Skinny Chicken Saltimbocca

Sunday: Slow-baked Salmon with Lemon and Thyme

Monday: Costco Ravioli 

Tuesday: Halibut Tacos with Chipolte Cream

Wednesday: Tuna helper and salad :)

Thursday: Left overs.

Valentine's Day Part 2

Knowing that it would be a special treat, I made some chocolate dipped strawberries for my 2 valentines to enjoy - and they definitely did!

On Friday, I came home from work to Greg in the kitchen cooking up the most delicious dinner: steak, scallops and crab cakes.  He also brought me roses and had a pint of Ben & Jerry's waiting for me in the freezer.  What more could a girl want??!

I had put together a bag of Valentine's goodies for Ben:

An alphabet, a number, and a color (fish) puzzle

A new sparkly "big boy" cup that he lovvvvvvvvvves drinking from

A book called "Counting Kisses", which just happen to be two of his favorite activities :)

A new pillow case, which matches the bedding I eventually want to purchase for him when we transition him to a big boy bed.

Monster's University on BluRay, which is one of his new favorite movies.

Valentine's Day

Ben sure is having a sweet Valentine's Day with these two gals :)

Callie, thanks for taking SUCH good care of my little love bug!  XOXO

Meal Planning: Week of February 17th

Review from last week:

Due to us unexpectedly being in town this weekend, I added a few items to our meal plan.  After a few months of it sitting in my Amazon cart, and after a little encouragement from a fellow foodie, I finally pulled the trigger and purchased Kitchen Revelry.  I made 2 dishes from it last week and so far, it's a big hit.  It seriously makes me want to throw a dinner party every single night.

This was the Layered Chili I made on Friday night (served with honey cornbread).  The recipe called for ground turkey, but offered a ground beef alternative.  I used ground top sirloin, and I could absolutely tell a difference using a higher quality meat.  



Layered Chili (from the cookbook, Kitchen Revelry)

3T chili powder
2T ground cumin
1/2t dried red chili flakes
1/4 cup EVOO
3 cups chopped onion
2 cups chopped seeded green bell peppers
6 garlic cloves, peeled and minced - (or if you are like me, buy an enormous jar of minced garlic from Costco and forget about mincing your own.  1t = 1 garlic clove)
2 lbs ground turkey meat (or ground beef)
1T dried oregano
1T cocoa powder or 1 ounce dark chocolate, chopped
1 12 ounce bottle lager beer
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 15.5 ounce cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Mix the chili powder, cumin and chili flakes in a small bowl.  Heat a heavy large nonstick pot over med-high heat.  Add the chili powder mixture to the pot and stir for 30 seconds to 1 minute until fragrant.

Add the oil to the pot, then the onions, bell peppers, and garlic and saute until beginning to soften (about 5 min).  Add the meat and saute until no longer pink (about 5 min).  Add the oregano, then the tomato paste, salt and cocoa powder; stir 1 min.  Add the beer and simmer 5 min.  Add the diced tomatoes and the beans.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to med-low and simmer slightly covered until the flavors develop, (about 30 min).

On Sunday Morning, after a few hours of playing in the fresh snow, we came in side and enjoyed some skillet eggs with smoked bacon and spinach, also from Kitchen Revelry.  This just might be my new favorite breakfast.  You use bacon and sourdough bread (cubed) to form a crust, and then layer it with spinach, shallot, eggs, and top with fresh chives.  I'm going to attempt to make this a little healthier next time using turkey bacon and fewer bread crumbs...but if that is a bust, I have zero problem returning to the original recipe.  Yum.

This bruschetta was such a crowd pleaser.  We had it on Saturday night when the Cougans were over.  The next time I make it, I will make the bread slices a little larger by slicing them diagonally.  I also might just lightly brush them with olive oil and toast them in the oven instead of sauteing them in SO MUCH BUTTER, (although, I didn't hear any complaints about that).  

My gluten-free coworkers always keep a big bag of this homemade granola in the freezer at work.  A few weeks ago I decided to try some on top of my yogurt and was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was.  I made a big batch to keep at home.  Greg even liked it!

On Sunday evening, I made a batch of our favorite tomato basil soup.  If I haven't mentioned it before, should you make this for yourself, try using less cream than the recipe calls for.  Like WAY less.  The recipe calls for 2 cups heavy cream (?!?!?) but I use about 1/4 cup.  Still creamy, still delicious.

The salad tacos were a huge hit.  It was hilarious watching Ben pick up a taco and take an enormous bite right out of the middle (and then watch as lettuce, tomato, meat and cheese fell into his lap).

Here is what we have planned for the week:

Friday: Valentine's Day!  Our official plans aren't until Saturday night, but I when I mentioned dinner on Friday to Greg, I was told, "don't worry about it, I've got it".  I'm intrigued. 

Saturday: My parents purchased us a gift certificate to our new favorite restaurant, Tandem Wine Bar, along with an offer to babysit :)  Planning to do a little wine tasting beforehand and then having dinner while Ben stays home with my mom.  

Sunday:  My mom and I are going to see Spamalot at the 5th Ave Theater, so I think I will get another batch of tomato basil soup started in the crock pot before I leave.

Monday: Halibut.  There are 2 recipes in The Can't Cookbook I'm debating between.  I'll report back.

Tuesday: Ricotta Meatballs with Chianti Sauce (another one from Kitchen Revelry - I'm clearly obsessed).  I'm planning to make "zoodles" (zucchini noodles) to go with it.

Wednesday: Left overs

Thursday: We have talked about walking down to check out the new Zeek's pizza that opened just down the road from us on Thursday night.

Snow Day

Snow days are for building snowmen, long snowy walks (bundled up in several sweaty layers), making tomato soup, drinking hot chocolate, and Breaking Bad marathons during nap time.

Here are a few pics I snapped before it all melted away. 

Weekend Recap

Our original plan of heading down to OR for the weekend was cancelled due to "Winter Storm Orion".  Our hope is to reschedule and get down there in the next couple months, ideally with a little warmer weather.

So we found ourselves with an entirely free weekend with zero plans!  Seemingly such a rarity, although I will admit, we have been pretty good about not over-scheduling ourselves these days. 

I will post more about our meals in my next meal planning blog, but on Friday night I made a big batch of the best chili I've ever had.  We also took a trip to Total Wine & More and I got my haircut.  

On Saturday, we drove down to the Aquarium.  This was Ben's first trip there since he was about 6 months old.  Sadly, he still couldn't care less about the place.  He kept us on the move walking through each exhibit without paying much attention to any fish, otter or jellyfish.  

We took a quick walk down the pier and found some construction trucks doing work.  This was probably the highlight for Ben.

That evening, we had an impromptu dinner (the best kind) with Rachel, Peter and Raleigh.  I was SO happy to finally get some quality snuggling time in with the little guy.  We got to enjoy a few hours all together before the snow started coming down and they decided to get home before it got worse.

Meal Planning: Week of February 10th

Review from last week:

I swear, Greg and I are still recovering from our Superbowl food-hangover.  We can definitely tell that indulging on chips, rich dips, fried foods and so much sugar is a thing of the past - at least in the quantities we consumed them in.  Oops...  But it was delicious and fun grazing on junk food all afternoon.  Oh, and the Seahawks won, too.  People seem pretty excited about that around here :)

A pre-game, mid-dorito binge session.  Not sure why Greg looks so angry.  Also, they had a Lynch jersey for Ben to wear that he absolutely refused to put on.  Greg must have trained his little Steeler fan well.

Playing with trucks with Laryd.

On Monday, we grilled up some chicken (on my panini press - so convenient for the nights we don't want to start up the outside grill) and I had mine over cabbage with sauteed mushrooms and onions and some avocado on top.  I could eat this every night. 

The fish tacos with chipolte cream were unbelievably good.  The chipolte cream is soooo easy, too:  3/4 parts nonfat Greek yogurt, 1/4 part mayo, and 2t chipolte peppers in adobo sauce.  Excellent, and would go great with chicken or carnita tacos, too.

Finally, Ben and Greg tore UP the chicken raviolis (Costco).  At a time when it feels like Ben is rejecting all things pasta, this really surprised me.  I will definitely be keeping those in the rotation for awhile.

Plans for next week:

We are leaving Friday afternoon to spend the weekend with our friends down in Oregon.  We attended their wedding last summer, but I have not seen them since!  (Greg has on one of his man weekends down in Portland, though).  We are bringing halibut with us to cook up for dinner on Saturday as a thank you for having us, but I have no idea what we are going to make yet :)  We shall improvise.  But otherwise, the only "plan" I have for food this weekend is a stop by the Food Trucks in Portland for lunch on our way back home on Sunday.   

Monday: Orange chicken (Trader Joe's).

Tuesday: Pork Chops - I ended up having to freeze the ones I bought to cook last week, so I'll attempt to make them this week.

Wednesday: Grilled chicken and bruschetta 

Thursday: Salad Tacos