Two Month Old Menu

So, things have been a bit busy for us lately, lots of traveling, bathroom remodeling, and commuting to DC. The last menu I started to post is from August, I think, and after losing a finished draft, I gave up on it for a bit. So here's that menu:

• Chicken marinara
• Pinchos Morunos
• Thai Chicken Soup
• Grilled Green Chicken
• Pork Chops with Mustard Sauce
• Beef Tacos with Egg White Tortillas

The pinchos morunos were pretty delicious, as I recall. We had extra Thai chicken soup, so we froze some, and have since used it up. Jon was a huge fan of the grilled green chicken, and we've made that again since the first time, and plan to make it next week as well. We still haven't managed to try the pork chops with mustard sauce, but I had some of it when Erin brought it in for lunch, and it was good. Beef tacos have become something we crave now, with or without tortillas. When we made them last week, we made 10x the original amount of the taco seasoning recipe, so that we just have it on hand for emergencies.

So, back to the past:
While we were waiting on paint to dry some afternoon last month, we also decided to try some new snacks:

• Snacks: Kale chips
• Snacks: Baked chicken wings (half plain, half with cashew butter sauce)
• Snack: Paleo tortilla chips

The tortilla chips were just ok, they actually don't need all the spices if all you want is a salsa delivery vehicle. We've made the chicken wings on an almost weekly basis since then. They're pretty wonderful to have post-WOD, or while we're waiting for a long dinner to be ready. As I'm typing this, we have another batch in the oven (half cashew butter sauce, half easy buffalo sauce). We're having a serious cooking afternoon while I catch up on some football, so we've actually also made another batch of kale chips. These are also pretty wonderful, and the recipe is very accurate, in my experience so far. I would only add, make sure the kale is very dry, and don't overdo the oil. They'll come out soggy and undelicous. It's not fun.

In all of this cooking melee, we've also tried a little sweet stuff. I'm pretty much in love with Nom Nom Paleo and all the recipes she finds or creates; I'm pretty sure her blog has persuaded us to get a Sous Vide for Christmas. Last week we tried the Roasted Broccoli & Bacon; today it was Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies from Primal Palate and Apple Cinnamon Cookies. We're also giving her Cauliflower Fried Rice a try tonight.

Jon really enjoyed the roasted broccoli. It had a pretty bitter taste to me, very similar to dark greens. I'm looking forward much more to the cauliflower tonight. The sweets were definitely a hit for us. After a few strict months of Paleo, the chocolate chip cookies are almost too sweet for me, but I absolutely adored the apple cinnamon cookies.


For the upcoming week, we're planning on the following meals:

• Meatballs and zucchini noodles
• Meat curry (chicken and turkey, this week)
  
• Ridiculous burgers (lamb and bacon, this week)
  
• Balsamic glazed pork chops
• Pistachio-crusted flounder fillets
• Beef satay

These are things we've all made before, so hopefully the week won't be too rough, cooking-wise.

Back From a Cruise, Time for Better Eating

So... Last week, we shouldn't even discuss. When all food is free and buffet-style or room service, and you're on vacation, it's really hard to be good. In fact, we didn't even try. So this week, we're being fairly strict and really good, and so far, it has paid off.

For Father's Day Sunday night, we had absolutely amazing balsamic glazed pork chops, with the inch-thick pork chops from the farmer's market, and a spinach and bacon salad that I nicked from Paladar.

Then Monday night, we gave two new recipes a shot: Coconut chicken nuggets and Egg Drop Soup. The nuggets actually kept the breading and stayed crispy, and the egg drop soup looked like anything you might order from your favorite guilty pleasure Chinese place. And, incidentally, both were delicious. For guilt-free soup, we did lard instead of butter, coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, and arrowroot instead of cornstarch.

Tuesday night, we re-worked an old recipe from a Williams-Sonoma cookbook: Beef Satay with Cashew Butter Sauce. I love it even more than the original recipe, I think the cashew butter comes out much better than peanut butter. Also, the fresh green peppers from the farmers market were so soft and sweet!

A few gym-night standards for the nights to come:
Chicken pesto - yay for frozen pesto cubes! We made a double batch last time, so no blending tonight!
Beef curry
Chicken thighs w/ creamy tomato sauce

This Week's Menu

Finally a new menu! It's been a somewhat ridiculous couple of weeks/months for us, so much that we only ended up cooking maybe once or twice most weeks. The upside to that, though, is that we now have a freezer full of meat! The plan for this week includes several new meals, so there may be more updates and photos later this week.

• Chile Colorado
• Pad See Eaw
• Lemongrass Chicken (slow cooker)
• Pork Stuffed Peppers (slow cooker)

This Week's Menu

Since my first/last post, Jon and I have already failed at the Whole 30. Life happens, and a lot of it happened to us last week. We didn't make half the meals we'd intended to, but we're hoping to get back on track this week with our normal routine at least, even if we have to hold off on the challenge for awhile.

• Salisbury Steak
• Beef Curry
• Kebabs with Aioli
• Czech Meatballs
• Chicken Pesto
• Beef Stroganoff

Update: Had the Salisbury Steak tonight. Very good flavor, and a surprising hint of sweetness in the gravy.

Menu for the week

Our menu for the upcoming week:

• Salisbury Steak
• Dad's pork chops
• Zesty cilantro lime roasted chicken
• Czech meatballs
• Coconut chicken curry soup
• Sausage and miscellaneous vegetables

All recipes contingent on my level of laziness, and what ingredients are on sale/ridiculous this week.

--Erin

Last Week's Menu, New Blogger

Hi all! Erin has invited me to join her family with blogging our weekly menu. Jon and I just started the Whole-30 challenge on Monday, so these first few weeks may be fairly restricted. The previous week included the following recipes:

• Burgers & asparagus
  
• Thai Almond Pork
• Balsamic Pork Chops
• Ground Beef Curry
• Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup

Burgers are basic for us, grass-fed beef seasoned with garlic salt and black pepper. I'll post a few recipes we use for condiments later.

The thai almond pork was okay, but I don't know if we'll do it again. It just wasn't quite as appetizing the second day, and we depend on leftovers for lunch.

The balsamic pork chops were excellent, and may become a gym night staple meal for us. We made the mistake of using a bit of lard in the skillet for the first batch of pork chops, so they didn't end up glazing very well. The second batch glazed very well, since there was balsamic vinegar in the skillet during the entire searing process. After the second batch was finished, we added spinach to the skillet and lightly wilted it in the remaining balsamic vinegar.

The ground beef curry is one of our current gym night staples. It's quick, easy, and the biggest obstacle on gym nights is trying to pick up our heavy cast-iron skillet.

Since I got my wisdom teeth out Friday, I've been living off the sweet potato & sausage soup. Jon's not a big fan, but I've really enjoyed it, and I've only been able to eat it cold so far. As far as the recipe goes, we also doubled the sausage, and added some ground beef to make sure I got enough protein this weekend. Jon forgot the curry powder, but it still had a good flavor. It's also possible that I favor it because it has a similar consistency to hash, which I miss dearly.

Menu for the week

Here's next week's menu!

• Sun-dried tomato chicken bake
• Barcelona Burger
• Nice and Spicy Pot Roast
• Stuffed Squash
• Smoked paprika chicken thighs
• Beef and lamb stew (which I will make up as I go along...)
• and corned beef with cabbage!

menu for the week

I'm going to try hard to be better about posting on here!  Here's my tentative menu for next week...I'll try to write up anything that comes out particularly good.

• Spicy Beef and Vegetable Soup
• Island Stuffed Chicken
• Ropa Vieja
• Chicken Sweet Potato Curry
• Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder
• Short Rib Ragu