What's For Dinner? July Weeks 3-5

Clearly playing catch up here.  Going to sum it up in one post.

Our menu for the week of July 13-19:

1) spaghetti & meatballs

2) crispy chicken sandwiches with cilantro lime mayo

I'm sure there were leftovers involved that week as well as our usual Vito's pizza night.  ;)  BOGO on Tuesday nights - you can't beat it!  And then I spent most of the end of the week and weekend at my parents house fixing all sorts of deliciousness with my mom for meals.

Week of July 20-26:

1) pesto veggie pizza

2) grilled chicken with tomato, cucumber and avocado salsa

Week of July 27 - August 2:

1) BLT's and corn on the cob

2) chicken enchiladas from Many Makings recipe

3) burgers on the grill and a kale avocado salad

4) cabbage roll casserole

{Sorry, no pics this week.}

What's For Dinner? July Week 2

The week of July 6-12, our menu consisted of:

1) southwest chicken wraps (Pinterest)

2) BLT's with my cousin Molly's new nectarine-cucumber salad

3) Aunt Sharon's homemade mac 'n cheese

And then tonight we had another potluck dinner with the Pearson and Rethman families.  I made Curtis Stone's pesto chicken with spaghetti along with pink grapefruit margaritas and the girls brought sides and dessert to go with.  It was another fun night with cousins including sprinkler time, sidewalk chalk and lightning bug catching. 

What's For Dinner? Week 4

Something I've forgotten to mention on here, but which has probably become apparent:  we decided to take a year off from our CSA this season.  It was a sad decision for me, but something Craig really encouraged.  He wants me to see if I can buy our produce locally with only items we truly want and will eat, and decide if it isn't more cost efficient this way.  It's true that the mixed/surprise bag can be a challenge each week with a CSA, and inevitably there will be things that we don't really care for that we try to find a way to eat and enjoy.  Additionally, come harvest time with our garden, we end up receiving a lot of the things we already have plenty of (tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, peppers) right in our back yard.  

But I liked the branching out and learning our way through new foods.  I liked the challenge of planning our weekly meals around the bag rather than the shopping planned around the meals.  It felt good to eat that way.  Plus, at pick up time, our farmers always had a trade bin available that we could exchange something we didn't want for more of something else we preferred.  And at $16 per week, I definitely thought the bag was a cost savings compared to grocery store prices or even farmers market shopping of the same quantity. 

Currently, my two biggest problem with local produce shopping outside of the CSA are:

1) It's inconvenient.  Compared to a swing by the hospital across the street from my work every Tuesday, driving around to farmers markets - especially the downtown market on Saturday mornings because our Saturdays mornings are almost ALWAYS spoken for - just takes up a lot of time, gas and interruption of schedule.

2) Hardly any farm markets have greenhouse-started vegetables available early in the season.  I could count on chemical-free tomatoes and lettuce, etc. from June 1st through mid-November with our CSA bags even though that exceeds the typical growing season for those things.  Shopping at local markets, those vegetables are available for a much shorter span of time and most everything starts around mid-July (fruit not included).  So while I had been using and eating FAR more vegetables by this time the past two years, I'm still just waiting around for things to ripen right now.  

I know.  Poor me.  This attitude that I'm putting our right now is exactly what I fight against in most cases.  The whole "eating whatever we want whenever we want regardless of how far it had to travel or where it came from".  But in this case, it's still local and still "organic".  It was just grown in a greenhouse to be made available outside of the regular season.  So, not quite the same thing.

 Craig and the kids just aren't as adventurous as me when it comes to trying new foods.  It's a challenge to please all of us at once sometimes.  I get bored of repetition of the same types of meals that they find "acceptable" and they have no interest in trying out various ways to use kale, for example.  Family time at the table is huge to me and I want it to be enjoyable for all of us.  So I'm giving this a try.  And I'm not super happy about it.  We've certainly been enjoying our u-pick fruit thus far.  And I know a nice chunk of the produce at Meijer comes from sorta-local farms in Michigan.  I'm also anxiously awaiting Bench Farms on Navarre to open their daily market for vegetables grown on their farm.  Instead of feeling obligated to a Saturday morning or single weeknight with quite a drive to get to certain markets, Bench's is open daily and not far from our house.  Their typical opening date for the market is about mid-July.  Not too far from now, so I'll be patient.  But it's just that I would've had about six weeks of local, organic vegetables with convenient pick up and great price already by that point had we done our CSA.  :(

Okay, moving onto this week:  June 22-28.

We had a cookout with the Rethmans at Pearsons on Saturday evening.  It was nothing short of a Thanksgiving-sized feast, but with better food.  BBQ chicken sandwiches, corn on the cob, avocado, tomato and feta salsa, etc.  I brought avocado hummus with "everything" pretzel crisps (Pinterest), spring potato salad (Smitten Kitchen) and homemade strawberry ice cream with cones.  It was heavenly.

Also this week:

1) cherry mustard chicken

2) tacos with homemade salsa

3) big salads with grilled chicken for Craig and kids, and eggplant sandwich with a green salad for me

4) cherry crisp for dessert

I love having Sophie help out in the kitchen when I'm in too big of a hurry.

Then tonight, we got together with our favorite group of friends at the Munoz residence for a homemade surf 'n turf dinner.  We all chipped in for our meat and seafood and everyone brought a side.  I brought a cherry pie with our picked cherries.

Good times.  Good eats.

What's For Dinner? Weeks 2&3

Lots of al fresco dining again.  It's the season for that and we have a new table top on our outdoor table, compliments of our live-in handy man.  It used to be a round, low, tiled table with fire pit in the center.  Not so easy to eat at because of the short stature and awkward space.  It was also falling apart.  So Craig kept the metal frame underneath and just built a new top for it.  Larger surface and square... and higher!

 

On the menu for the week of June 8-14:

1) lemon chicken and asparagus pasta

2) peanutty pork and green pepper kabobs

3) grilled chicken with peach salsa

4) fresh strawberry shortcake with sweet drop biscuits

 

The weekend included the wedding and Will's birthday party so most of the meal prep for this week was done after the kids went to bed each night the day before it was to be served.

 

I have a new favorite tweak on an old favorite pancake recipe.  We've been eating Weelicious whole wheat oat pancakes for years now and they are delicious as is.  But recently, I've been adding 1 tsp of almond extract and about 1/2 cup of chopped almonds to the batter and we are LOVING this new variation.  I am normally not one to change a recipe but my confidence is building the older I get.

 

Brianne's shower was Saturday the 15th and I prepared two sausage and egg casseroles and brought some fresh-picked strawberries to add to the yogurt bar.

 

And on Sunday for Father's Day, I brought a big salad, a tray of watermelon slices and a new dessert that caught my attention and could make use of more of my abundant rhubarb:  rhubarb-almond bars!  My rhubarb is pretty much entirely green.  Almost no red at all.  Not sure why, but it still tastes delicious!  And the kids have been crunching some skinnier stalks plain.  :)

So these green bars were a little odd looking with a slightly unappetizing color... but they were really good!  The kids loved them and they went over pretty well with everyone else too.

 

On the menu for the rest of the week of June 15-21:

1) balsamic grilled chicken (Weelicious)

2) lasagna soup (on my Pinterest board)

3) an asparagus, tomato and fontina frittata for me (Giada - Food Network)

4) BLTs

5) Vito's pizza!  :)

 

What's For Dinner? May Week 5 & June Week 1

After Cora's luau party, my cousin Molly had some extra pineapple left over that she asked if I could take off her hands.  So the kids went home with party favors and I went home with a whole pineapple!  :)  Our menu for this week was pretty heavily influenced by that pineapple...

{Week of May 25-31}

1) pineapple chicken salad, cheese slices, corn on the cob and store-bought cherries

Will has his head in his hand pretty much every evening at the table.  It's like he's too pooped to hold his head up.  I soooo wish he would still nap every day!

Hmm... that might not be so effective there, sister.  And there's nothing on it.

2) chicken and pineapple quesadillas, more corn on the cob (it's a summer staple), several fruit choices.

3) breakfast sandwiches with sausage, egg & cheese on English muffins - Craig's request - no picture

 

{Week of June 1-7}

1) pesto glazed chicken with spaghetti and garden salads - this was so good and well received!!

Pesto Glazed Chicken with Spaghetti

from the new Curtis Stone Cookbook

For the chicken:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 6oz each)

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

pesto (recipe below)

For the spaghetti:

12 oz spaghetti

2 tbsp olive oil plus more for drizzling

2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

2 tbsp torn fresh basil leaves, for garnish

1/3 cup shaved or freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish

* Preheat oven to 400.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.

* To make the chicken:  Season the chicken breast halves with salt and pepper.  Heat a large ovenproof skillet over high heat.  Add the olive oil, then add the chicken and cook for about 4 minutes per side, or until golden brown.  Remove the pan from the heat.

* Spread pesto generously over the chicken.  Transfer the pan to the oven and bake the chicken for about 8 minutes, or until it shows no sign of pink when pierced in the thickest part with the tip of a small sharp knife.  Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let stand for 3 minutes.

* Meanwhile, add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook, stirring often to keep the strands from sticking together, for about 8 minutes, or until it is tender but still firm to the bite.  Scoop out and reserve 2/3 cup of the cooking water.  Drain the spaghetti.

* Pour the reserved cooking water back into the pot and whisk in the olive oil.  Add the spaghetti and parsley and stir well to coat the spaghetti.  Cover with the lid ajar to keep warm, if necessary.

* Arrange each chicken breast half on one side of a dinner plate and place the spaghetti alongside.  Sprinkle with the pine nuts and torn basil and drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the pasta and serve.

For the pesto:

2 garlic cloves

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 1/2 cups lightly packed fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 oz)

1/3 cup EVOO

* Pulse the pine nuts, garlic, salt and red pepper flakes together in a food processor until the nuts and garlic are finely chopped.  Add the basil and Parmesan cheese and pulse about 10 times to chop the basil.  With the machine running, gradually pour in the olive oil.

* Transfer pesto to a container and float a thin layer of olive oil on top.  Cover and keep refrigerated, but bring to room temp before using.

2) BLTs al fresco!  Another summer staple.  I swear we eat vegetables other than corn on the cob.  ;-)

3) bow-tie pasta with corn, thyme and Parmesan - see recipe below

Bow-Tie Pasta with Corn, Thyme and Parmesan

also from the Curtis Stone cookbook

1# bow-tie pasta (farfalle)

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 cup dry white wine

4 large sprigs of fresh thyme

2 cups fresh corn kernels ("cut from about 4 ears" - I think more like 6-8)

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

shredded chicken, optional

* Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add the pasta and cook, stirring often to prevent it from sticking together, for about 7 minutes, or until tender but still firm to the bite.

* Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the olive oil, then add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes, or until tender.  Add the wine and thyme, raise the heat to medium-high, and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced by three-quarters.

* Add the corn and cream and bring to a simmer.  Reduce the heat to med-low and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for about 2 minutes, or until the corn is hot.  Keep the sauce warm over very low heat.  The sauce may seem thin at this point, but it will thicken up when combined with the pasta.

* Scoop out and reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta.  Add the pasta to the corn sauce and toss to coat.  Add enough of the reserved pasta water to adjust the sauce to the desired consistency.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

* Divide the pasta among four pasta bowls.  Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese, chives and peppers and serve.

 

The end.