Thursday, October 17, 2013

Meal Planning: Week of October 21st


I have to start by saying how I feel like so much more of a chef now that I have this fancy new apron ;)  Rachel got it for me for my birthday, and it's now my official kitchen attire.
 
Review from last week:
 
I think if anyone were to ask me or Greg what our favorite dish is lately that we have made, it would be the Boursin and Bacon Stuffed Chicken Breast.  We immediately declared it the next thing we would make when hosting a dinner party.  It was probably the most silent dinner we have had, too, because neither of us could wait to put the next bite in our mouths.  (Maureen, is this the "passion for food" you were referring to)? ;)
 
 
The pot roast that we slow roasted all day on Sunday was also amazing.  Greg isn't a huge pot roast fan, but he cleared his plate.  I also made mashed potatoes (and added lemon juice and garlic powder) - yum.  Due to this, and the massive amounts of bread we consumed when out to dinner for our anniversary, this week is going to be a low carb one!
 
Here is how I protected myself when searing the roast.  I have learned my lesson when it comes to cooking with hot oil (and have the battle scars to prove it).
 
 
 
 
And speaking of our anniversary dinner, we had a fantastic afternoon and evening celebrating!  We went to the Cinebarre for drinks and a movie (Don Jon) and then had dinner at Palisade.  My friend Cara was working that night, so she made sure to give us a fabulous table :)
 
 
But back to what we cooked...
 
The stuffed peppers were just okay.  I omitted the rice in order to make it a little less carby, and then also forgot to put the sour cream in, so perhaps it was an execution issue and not a recipe problem.  Ben, however, ate about THREE pepper's worth of meat.  He just kept clearing his plate and asking for more, so it was a satisfying meal in that sense!
 
 
 
On my birthday, Greg asked if I wanted to go out to dinner.  Since the thought of rushing through dinner (Ben) and actually paying for wine did NOT sound like the most fun way to spend the evening, he was awesome and picked up Spaghetti Factory for take out and we ate (and drank!) at home instead :) 
 
I made a triple batch of the chipolte sauce that we had with cod this week, so it will be perfect for a busy night when all we need to do is thaw and cook some meat or fish up in it.




  
Finally, on Sunday I woke up to a picture of these pumpkin pancakes on my Instagram feed and HAD to have them.  As I have mentioned before, I LOVE the age that Ben is at where he can (and wants to) help me with things!  He was very eager to help me dump ingredients into the bowl, but not very eager to actually consume the pancakes.  :/
 
 
This week is going to be light on new meals and heavy on "use what we have": 
 
Saturday:  We are heading to Lake Chelan for 1 day/1 night!  One of the resorts over there is trying to recruit me to plan my next staff retreat on their property, so they are putting us up for the night and paying for our dinner at the hotel :)  It was hard to pass up!

Sunday:  Chicken Potato Florentine Soup - I made an enormous batch recently and froze some of it.
 
Monday: Leftovers (or salad).
 
Tuesday: Halibut chipolte and sauteed mushrooms/onion/bell peppers.
 
Wednesday: Meatballs and salad. #welovemeat
 
Thursday: Soup (canned) and salad
 
Friday: Dinner at Brenna and Noah's new house!  So excited to see them and check out their new place :) 

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