Garam masala grilled chicken

Biscuits, cheesy broccoli, and strawberries as well.

A new year, a new plan

PLAN being the operative word.

Menu planning is, for some reason, difficult for me, but life is SO much easier when I do it.

For the remainder of the week:

Tuesday: Grilled chicken thighs, vegetables, biscuits, strawberries, maybe salad
Wednesday: Crock-pot roast beef, french bread (This is ready to start tomorrow!)
Thursday: Pasta with shrimp, salad
Friday: Karate night!
Saturday: Pancakes, bacon & sausages, fruit
Sunday: TBD, planning on Friday or Saturday

Leek and goat cheese frittata

http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/leek-goat-cheese-frittata.aspx

I made a few changes - I only had two leeks, so that's what I used. And 6 eggs looked a bit skimpy, so I used eight. But it was most definitely yummy.

We also had bruschetta - I used a chopped basil in a tube that worked out really well - and cantaloupe. The cantaloupe was remarkably tasteless for coming from the Farmers Market. The Lovely Daughter and I turned it into a smoothie, with frozen peaches, a banana, and a tiny bit of yogurt.

Menu planning

Man, I suck at menu planning.

Tuesday: we had pasta
Tonight: leftover fajitas and tacos
Thursday: Farmer's Market - may be some egg dish
Friday: Karate/pickup from Hershey Park
Saturday: Roasted chicken
Sunday: Pancakes

Pulled pork sandwiches

With cheeseburgers for boys, and a veggie burger for The Lovely Daughter.

I made coleslaw again, but this was MUCH better! I started with this:
A Bobby Flay recipe for Coleslaw with Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette - but of course didn't really follow it.

I shredded up about a cup of cabbage, maybe 5 baby carrots. Added the juice of a lime and *maybe* a teaspoon of canola oil. A dash of salt and a smidge of honey. Then a scant spoonful of my new favorite ingredient: Sambal oelek.

I am in heaven. Almost like green papaya salad - I'll have to try adding bean sprouts and chopped peanuts the next time :)

Shrimp scampi

YAY! Shrimp that actually taste like shrimp! These were either from Ecuador or Honduras (they had some from both places, and I can't remember where the ones I bought were from). The important thing is that they were wild-caught, and very fresh. Not gulf shrimp, but also not $20 a pound either. Some of the last of the asparagus roasted, some grilled summer squash, yellow rice, and bread. And there's plenty of fruit for dessert.

Misc.

Boys had hotdogs and leftover pizza; TMOTH had sausage and eggs; I had a salad. BUT I made pound cake this afternoon, and sliced strawberries from the farmers market to go on top. Mmm.

Banana pudding

OK, it's for dessert, not dinner :)

But dinner - Chinese takeout - just wasn't that good :(
The soup was pretty good, spring rolls OK, pad thai was weird, and ginger chicken that was pretty good as well. But WAY too much MSG. I took three advil and two benadryl, and hopefully will escape a major migraine.

Farmers Market Dinner

The farmers market is back!!! One day a week, in the parking lot of the church across the street from work, there is a farmers market from May to November. It is a weekly ritual for a number of us to walk across to the market on Thursday morning.

It's still early in the season, but I got enough for dinner - a dozen eggs from "happy hens" for scrambled eggs, a ginormous apple, potatoes for hash browns, and a quart of strawberries. Yummy, yummy, yummy.

Crockpot pulled pork and coleslaw

http://www.crumblycookie.net/2008/05/30/crockpot-pulled-pork/

I made this today, and it was wonderful. I (of course) tweaked it a little bit.
1. I added about half a teaspoon of ginger to the spice mix; I also didn't have white pepper so just added extra black pepper.
2. The only pork shoulder at the grocery was about 4 pounds, so I used about half the spice mix, then let it sit overnight (I put the rub on last night after dinner, then started the crockpot this morning before work (~7 am).
3. I added back about half the cooking liquid, after skimming off the fat. And I think I probably added more BBQ sauce in the heating the shredded meat phase, but I'm not sure because I just poured it in until it looked right. I used Stubbs, and was happy with the results.

Very carroty coleslaw on the side, potato chips because I was too tired to make potato salad, and YUM. The only downside was the slaw dressing - I bought Marzetti's (again, the only kind at the grocery. Grrr.) and it's a little more vinegary than I like. OK, but not great. Any recommendations for a sweet dressing, or a recipe?

(As an aside, I shredded my thumb while making the coleslaw. I walked into the living room holding a paper towel around it, and when TMOTH looked a question at me, I said "I shredded my thumb." The Lovely Daughter just erupted - WHY WOULD YOU EVEN THINK TO SAY THAT! DON'T SAY THAT! SAY YOU CUT YOUR FINGER! It was highly amusing.)

Chicken cacciatorre

A good dinner for a change - the pasta dish, salad, garlic bread.

And I put the spice rub on a small pork shoulder for this recipe:
Crockpot pulled pork

Cheese and Crackers and Fruit and Veg

I spent the day at the quilt show (except for driving The Lovely Daughter to and from her art class) so no cooking tonight. We stopped by Magruders ( LOVE those local groceries) for fruit, assorted raw veggies, and supplemental cheese and crackers for dinner.  We found some celery & onion flavored crackers that we both agreed *could* be interesting, and they were AWESOME. I will definitely buy them again.

Salad and pasta

Stopped by Trader Joe's for milk and eggs and discovered pesto at TJ's. Not as good as homemade, but not too shabby for a weeknight dinner. Also french bread from TJ's. Leftover strawberries sliced and sugared with tiny cupcakes for dessert.

Chicken pot pie

I had a couple of frozen mini-pies in the freezer (home-made, even!).

Last night we had Hamburger Helper Beef Stroganoff - the Karate Kid LOVES the stuff. Sigh.

Soup night

Leftover bean soup with sausage for DH and me and The Lovely Daughter's BF; tomato with pasta for my boys, and Trader Joe's Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper soup for The Lovely Daughter - she practically lives on the stuff!

Omelettes

Omelettes are nice because they're individually made and easy to put things into one person's and leave them out of the next :) So TMOTH and I can have lots of fillers; the boys can have JUST CHEESE with bacon on the side, and the vegetarian Lovely Daughter can have veggies and cheese.

And I made a key lime pie this afternoon, so there'll be yummies for dessert tonight.

Pot roast

Broccoli from the freezer, mashed potatoes, biscuits from a can...and lots of macaroni and cheese for the don't-eat-potroast crowd. The Lovely Daughter had friends over, and I actually had enough to feed them dinner as well :)

French toast

with bacon and strawberries for dinner last night. Tonight we had pizza since it was karate night again.

Karate night

Karate nights are hard to have meals at home. Class times are just not the *right* times to allow cooking.

Last night we grilled burgers with the in-laws. Yum. Tomorrow will most likely be French toast.

Pasta with scallops, artichokes, and roasted red peppers

This is an adaptation of a recipe from the back of a bag of frozen shrimp in garlic sauce. Which as far as I can tell they are no longer selling :( BUT, I had scallops, I had garlic, and the artichokes, pepper, and shredded parmesan to make a good fake. Also focaccia bread to go along with it.

I also managed to get navy beans soaking to make bean soup for tomorrow. It's not at all clear if the in-law invasion will be here by dinnertime or not, so a recipe that makes plenty is a big bonus.

I need to go pick up a roast for Monday, and some chicken in case they're still here for dinner on Tuesday - it seems that when they were talking about this trip, it was going to be really quick. I'm just glad they're coming.