What's For Dinner? Week 2

It is so funny to me how strong of an urge I have to cook in the fall... and exercise in the spring. :) I'm like a bear. Getting ready to hibernate for the winter, I guess. But this fall is no different and I just love the coziness of cooking and eating yummy food when the weather cools down.

I've recently gotten into watching some (DVR'd) episodes of Food Network television again. There are a few new faces since I last flipped it on and I'm especially enjoying Alex Guarnaschelli of Alex's Day Off. She's very dramatic - almost sensual - when she talks but she definitely holds my attention and I think she does an excellent job on her show. It seems Everyday Italian is no longer, but Giada at Home is a big hit. Giada was always my favorite, but the more popular she gets, the more annoying she becomes for me. I liked her better when her set was in the kitchen of someone's home (did you know they used to do that?) and the camera man didn't focus so much on her cleavage and ultra white teeth. Whatev. I still like many of her recipes. And Tyler Florence... ahh, Tyler. I want him to come over and cook for me all the time. He is awesome. And there's rarely something he makes that doesn't look delicious to me. Check out Tyler's Ultimate for guaranteed yumminess. I also enjoy the Barefoot Contessa as well as Rachael and Giada's travel shows from time to time. Oh, and has anyone watched Nigella's Kitchen? She seems so fun to me, but I've never watched her.


Okay, moving on. We switched gears this week from pancakes to waffles for our weekend breakfast: Pumpkin Waffles! I made a version of these last year from a Food Network recipe. But after finding the Weelicious recipe, I decided to give those a try instead. I did still use the maple-apple-walnut topping idea from Food Network though.Maple-apple-walnut topping:

And here's what we ate for dinner this week:

1) Saturday was Craig's and my 6th anniversary and we celebrated by going out to Cousino's steak house for dinner. The kids got a quick-throw-together dinner... I just make sure to cover all the food group bases and whip something up. Honestly, I can't even remember what they had.

2) Sunday was supposed to be a chili and grilled cheese dinner with our friends after the pumpkin patch. But due to the wind and rain, we rain checked for this coming Sunday and I froze all but a small portion of the chili for Craig and I to eat one night this week. Instead, I moved to plan B... another dinner I had planned for this week just got bumped up. So I made Tyler Florence's Crispy Baked Rosemary-Garlic Chicken, sauteed some green beans with a little olive oil, salt and pepper (I'm all about roasting and sauteing my veggies instead of steaming lately), and some bread and butter on the side. Then we just ate the apple crisp I had planned for the party through the week instead of freezing. I'll just make a fresh one this weekend.
For this main dish, I tried out the new cutting board (with a shallow well in the center) and round knife (a gift from my mother in law) for chopping the rosemary and garlic very fine. It worked well!

Then the coating was first flour, then egg/milk and then a coating of the rosemary/garlic and panko breadcrumbs. Panko are a Japanese style breadcrumb and are a much better/crispier coating than regular breadcrumbs.

They smelled wonderful and were plenty moist, but surprisingly, the flavor wasn't as bold as I expected. Not nearly as strong as they smelled. Not sure I'll make them again, but the kids liked them. Of course... go figure.

The apple crisp, on the other hand, was wonderful... and the kids didn't care for it. Of course. I loved the addition of the pecans!

3) Monday - leftovers.

4) Tuesday - homemade pizza again with fresh fruit and raw veggies on the side. I did another Hawaiian and another banana pepper pizza. Here's the Hawaiian:

And here's my crust recipe:
1 1/2 cups warm water (about 120 degrees)

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

4 cups flour (we do 2 cups all purpose and 2 cups whole wheat)

4 tsp quick-rise yeast

-Oven to 400.

-In a large bowl, pour the water. Add the olive oil, salt and sugar. No need to mix yet. Add the flour and put the yeast on top of the flour. Prepare a flour surface to knead. Mix with your hands inside the bowl until ingredients come together and then start kneading the combined mixture on top of the floured surface. You may need to add extra flour.

-Once the dough is smooth and elastic, form a ball with the dough and put it in the bowl to rest while you prepare the toppings.

-You can use whatever toppings you want. When you are done getting them ready, separate the dough into two equal parts and roll out to the size of your pizza pan. Fold over edges to create a "crust". I usually let the dough rest once more for another 15 minutes or so and then poke with a fork to vent.

-Top with sauce (if desired) along with toppings and cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

-Note: I always make my pizzas the night before so that they're ready to go in the oven when we're ready for dinner. They do just fine resting in the fridge overnight.
5) Wednesday - Craig and I each ate a small bowl of chili and the kids ate leftover pizza.

6) Thursday I stayed home sick from work, so I pulled a casserole from the deep freeze to save myself the hassle of cooking. It seems our family has all gotten the cough/achey/sore throat thing going on. Boo. No fevers though, thank goodness. Hopefully it clears up ASAP - this week and weekend are too pretty to waste!

This is an old picture since I didn't bother to take one this night, but the casserole was a Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables. We ate garlic toast, broccoli and fresh fruit on the side.

7) Friday - leftovers.

I think this fall I'm going to be on the hunt for the perfect mac 'n cheese recipe. Remember my "tomato soup challenge" earlier this year? :) I have a mac 'n cheese that I make currently, but the food snob in me wants to avoid even the little bit of Velveeta that's in it. So I'm hunting around and I have one to try for next week. But if you have any favorites, I'd love to hear.

Happy eating!