Week 4 - Friday chicken and DONE!

Wow, ok, well, it ended up taking us over 6 weeks to go through a 4 week meal plan. Or wait, 7 weeks? We skipped the last week entirely, then started up again, but it took over a week - ok, so 6 weeks plus 3 days to finish up making 20 meals.

The final meal of the 20 was Cajun Chicken with Collard Greens. I was actually looking forward ot this dish and it was only illness that prevented it being made on time. And, actually Rich ended up making it all as I was still feeling woozy. The Real Simple blogger liked it.

Was the recipe easy to follow?
Seemed to be easy and quick.

Adjustments?
I really, really don't like black eyed peas. I choke one down (yes, precisely one) every New Year's Day for luck, but that is it. So we subbed black beans. And it needed a side - yellow rice.

Did it taste good?
Yummy! I think, in retrospect, the greens needed a splash of vinegar.

Kid friendly?
Eh. They ate the yellow rice, of course, and Elizabeth's chicken was not seasoned a lot, so they ate some. Pretty much a pass on the collards, though.

Would we make it again?
Hmm. Yeah, maybe. The leftovers sat around, so not sure it was the greatest hit ever. I might make it if I get on a 'we need to eat more greens' kick.

Week 4 - Thursday flatbread

Still catching up. This was Thursday the 4th's meal. I said to Rich in advance, I think we've got a dud here and sure enough this was not a hit. No pic.

Thursday's meal was Sweet Potato and Brie Flatbread.

Was the recipe easy to follow?
It was. I have looked for good recipes for pizza dough because it can be so easy and quick. I was hopeful, but it was not to be.

Adjustments?
For the meal, I skipped the salad as a side. Instead we had tomato soup and green beans. I also used wheat pizza dough, which worked fine.

Did it taste good?
I thought it did. The brie really melted away into the bread, so it wasn't as good or cheesy as I wanted. Rich hated it. He just thinks pizza should be pizza with a sauce and thick covering of cheese. I have a really tasty flatbread recipe with mushrooms and greens and roasted red peppers and while he will eat it, he always asks where the sauce is.

Kid friendly?
Not really. Elizabeth, for whatever reason, has never been a fan of the yellow/orange vegetable family. She didn't eat much. Andrew toyed with it and maybe ate a few bites.

Would I make it again?
Interestingly, the Real Simple blogger thought maybe she'd make this again and cut in small squares and serve as an appetizer. I think that might be the only way I'd make it again. Though I do think it might need to cook a few minutes, then add the brie, maybe? That might help.

Week 4 - Wednesday steak

OK, wow, really trying to finish up this cooking challenge. I wish I had kept it up in real time, without skipping that last week, because the Real Simple Food Blog featured two bloggers who had blogged along. Ah, it could have been me. Oh well, I'll have to chase fame another way. This food thing became more about learning more about who we are as a family of eaters and cookers, and once I get to the end of the recipes, I'll do one wrap up post with some of my thoughts.

But for now, Weeks 4's Wednesday meal was Seared Steak with Cauliflower puree. No pics.

Was the recipe easy to follow?
Super easy, fairly quick. Wednesday is soccer night, so there was zero time, plus the kids were going crazy during food prep, so I just gave up on the idea of the olive garnish, which I think of a classic in Cuban cooking. I would have had to make that at a separate time, or just had more than 15 minutes. The Real Simple blogger described a night that is kind of like our nights, except that I insist on us all eating together as a family, at roughly 6:30 pm. It's not always easy, strike that, it's never easy, but for the most part it works for us as a family.

Adjustments?
No olive stuff, which would have been good, but was fine without it. Also, we don't have a food processor, and so the hand held immersion blender worked fine. My carb loving kids needed a side dish, so just heated up some noodles and called it a side.

Did it taste good?
Delish. Wish I had the time for the olive part. I am not a fan of cauliflower, but most of it is mental as I really like brocoli. There's jsut something about the white cauliflower that, well, bleah. But I thought this was ok. Not great, but ok.

Kid-friendly?
E sniffed at the cauliflower and asked what it was, and I quickly answered puree. She ate some. Andrew ate some. They both like meat a lot, so that was a hit.

Would we make it again?
I think so. It was good, not that hard to make.

Week 4 - FINALLY - Monday's pork

Yikes! We were really disciplined about cooking at home 5 nights a week for the first three weeks, then week 4 totally fell apart, and it wasn't entirely easy getting back to it this past week. But we did cook 3 of the 5 meals (so far), so catching up.

Monday was supposed to be a pork dish, with Tuesday salmon. I hate salmon. Plus, unless it is wild caught, it's possibly the worst environmental choice out there - I know waaaay too much about salmon farming. I don't really know all that much about shrimp farming so it's easy to just pretend it's not a big deal, but I know far too much about salmon farming. My friends: don't eat farmed salmon. It is bad news. So, when good friends came into town Monday night (who happen to work on farmed salmon issues!), it was easy to shelve this, go out to dinner, and restart cooking on Tuesday night. So, Tuesday we had Roasted Pork with Polenta.

Was the recipe easy to follow?
It was - fast and easy. The polenta got a little lumpy, but was still good.

Adjustments?
I bought boneless pork medallions instead of chops, due to availability at our store. Also ,this needed an additional vegetable.

Did it taste good?
Eh. The pork was not great. I think I just have ot say that meat needs to be marinaded. It just needed more. Maybe the medallions needed more flavor than chops would have? Dunno.

Kid friendly?
They liked it, and even ate some polenta. We eat grits fairly often for breakfast, and usually make cheese grits. One of the secrets to good cheese grits is a couple of dashes of garlic salt or garlic powder, so I wish I had added some to the polenta.

Would we make it again?
Hmm. I don't know. It was easy, but it just needed something else. I guess I would say it was kind of fine, but didn't really have anything that made us excited. I have a lot of polenta left over, though, so maybe we'll give it another whirl with just a little more added to the recipe. What else could we add to the tomatoes? Olives. Maybe artichoke hearts? Capers. And of course marinade the pork in criollo, or heck this would be fine with chicken (which of course had been marinaded first). And I'm not sure gruyere ($$) is really needed for the polenta - it would be just as good with parmesan polenta, or what we do with grits is throw in a variety of cheese. Hmm, now that I'm thinking about it, this could become a staple with a few changes.

For those keeping track, the Tuesday recipe was Salmon with Potato Salad. Again, buy wild salmon - wild salmon from Alaska is actually a great choice. Or, a decent substitution for salmon might be arctic char, which some people (including Rich) think has more flavor than farmed (aka Atlantic) salmon.

Week 3 - Fri-no sat-no Sunday pork

Oops, no picture from Sunday's Balsamic-Glazed Pork With Lentils. I did end up shopping on Friday and picked up all the ingredients, but a friend called and suggested dinner out so we shelved this recipe. Saturday we were feeling blah and in the mood for pizza, so we finally got around to this on Sunday night.

Was the recipe easy to follow?
Super easy and quick. We cook pork tenderloin a fair amount, and have never browned it - just roasted. Not sure it's worth the effort to brown when you can just slide it in the oven, but I think it may have given more flavor.

Adjustments?
This was another low carb recipe, and well, we like carbs. So we used our of our favorite yellow rice mixes. (the Real Simple blogger wanted a carb side, too).

Did it taste good?
Yummy.

Kid friendly?
They liked it. I was skeptical about the lentils, and almost prepared a green vegetable side dish, but they both ate a few bites of lentils.

Would we make it again?
Not super wild about the lentil dish. It makes a ton, which I guess makes sense if there is no other side dish. But they're not that flavorful - I didn't think it was a good flavor match for the pork. But otherwise it was a good variation on a standard meal.

So that catches us up to Week 4. And here's where it all really, really fell apart. We had friends over Sunday afternoon so I did not go to the grocery store. And on Monday, looking at our overstuffed fridge, I just said the hell with it and decided on leftovers. Tuesday was Rich's birthday, and we went out for dinner at a family style Italian restaurant, which left us with 5 pounds of leftover pasta in ragu. So last night we had more leftovers. And there's still more in the fridge, so last night I said to Rich, let's just skip this week, and restart up next week. He was happy to hear it.

I thought, with each recipe making 4 servings, I'd eat one, E&A would split one, Rich would eat one plus the rest of E&A's portion, and Rich would take the 4th serving for lunch the next day, but it's not entirely worked that way. So with a ton of fesitivities planned around Halloween, a fridge that is still full, and general blah, we're taking a week off.

I was simply not made for rigid plans. But check back in next week, as a couple of the recipes look like real winners. And after the orgy of excess this Halloween promises (7 events in 4 days!), a week of simple, healthy, wholesome food will be perfect.

Week 3 - Thursday strata

Last Thursday's meal was Mushroom and Herb Strata. This was the longest prep time recipe out of all 20, but with a little prep work it worked fine for a weeknight dinner.

Was the recipe easy to follow?
It was. A fair amount of prep, but pretty easy to make.

Adjustments?
I decided to use egg substitute for 4 of the 6 eggs, to cut down on fat and cholesterol. Also used 1% milk. I thought those changes allowed me to use a little extra cheese! If I were to make it again, I'd cut the bread into cubes in advance and let it dry a little beforehand as they didn't really retain their shape - I felt like I was making dressing not a strata. Also, even though it's called mushroom and herb strata, the only herb is parsley! I'd add more - oregano, thyme, something, anything, to make it a little more herb-y. I always thought when you made stratas you were supposed to pour the egg mix in and let them sit overnight (and make for breakfast) or the whole day (for dinner), to let the flavors meld but maybe you don't have to.

Kid friendly?
hahahahaha. Oh, were you serious? They wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole. Elizabeth did, under duress, try one "no thank you bite" (take one bite and if you don't like it you can say no thank you). And promptly gagged. So they ate leftover tortelloni.

Did it taste good?
It did. A little bland.

Would we make it again?
It was pretty good. With a salad and a glass of white wine it felt like a sophisticated dinner. I wanted it to be a little more something, I'm not sure what. I think it might actually be a good side dish, perhaps? I don't know. Rich liked it. I just didn't like it as much as the Real Simple blogger did. I'd make it again but not as part of a regular meal rotation.

Week 3 - Wednesday ground beef

Whew, catching up on my food challenge! Last Wednesday's dinner was Asian Beef and Mango Salad. A huge hit, for a lot of reasons. For me, I have tended to think of ground beef as something you buy to mix with those awful hamburger helpers, or use in spaghetti sauce or something else you just mix it into, or turn into hamburgers or meatloaf, but not as something that could stand alone. This recipe was an eye opener.

Was the recipe easy to follow?
super easy - not more than 15 minutes to make.

Adjustments?
E&A love mango, as do I, so I bought two. Wish I had bought three. Also, kids tend to not like salad and my kids are no exception. So I decided to use the lettuce as wraps. It kind of worked, they ate a few bites of lettuce.

Did it taste good?
Delish. Loved it.

Kid friendly?
They loved it. Well, in truth, they loved the mango. Andrew liked hiding the mango seed under his bottom in his chair (something he often does when eating), then inquiring, "where mang-go?" Get it? Not where mango go, but where mang go? We crack ourselves up in this house.

Would we make it again?
Definitely. So far this may be the winner recipe of this entire challenge.

Week 3 - Tuesday shrimp

Last night's recipe was Shrimp with White Beans and Toast. I managed a grocery run right at the end of a busy day and got almost everything, except I forgot juice (super sale), lentils, and there were no pork loins left (huge sale). So for Friday's dinner I still have to go out to the store again. That's 3 trips this week. Sigh. Rich was out for dinner, so it was just E&A and me, and I was wiped out after a long day, so I seriously considered just heating up leftover chicken, but glad I pressed ahead.

Was the recipe easy to follow?
Super easy, super quick. Biggest problem was my frying pan wouldn't quite fit 3 slices of toast, so the bread grilled unevenly.

Adjustments?
Knowing Rich would be out I bought 12 ounces shrimp, instead of a pound, and still had leftovers.

Did it taste good?
It was really good. I was aggravated I only had great northern beans and no navy beans, thinking the northern beans would be too big and overwhelm, but they were fine. The arugula was really good.

Kid friendly?
They love shrimp so it was a big hit. I decided not to cook anything on the side and encourage green eating and they both ate a little. I was skeptical about the bread for them, but they both just picked it up and munched on it. And they both ate a good number of beans. A success. Elizabeth even praised it, which is rare indeed.

Would we make it again?
I think so. On the one hand, this is a great 'pantry meal' - except for the arugula, you could easily have the ingredients on hand, so if you needed to whip up a quick supper this would be a fast, healthy option. On the other hand, the arugula added to the finished dish, so I need some ideas of what might be pantry ready that would sub - if I had baby spinach left over from another recipe, certainly. I don't know about frozen greens. Hmm. Maybe it would be ok without a green cooked in, and just have a side vegetable.

Week 3 - Monday chicken

Monday's recipe was chicken paprikash. This is the week this plan kind of fell apart. We were away and busy most of the weekend, so no time for a big grocery shop. I thought I'd go on Monday, but couldn't find my car keys, and there was too much to buy to walk. So I walked and only bought Monday's ingredients, plus a few extras ($25). The whole point of this exercise for me really was to expose me to new recipes and cooking techniques (after nearly ten years as a vegetarian, I don't have that many mad skillz in the meat cooking department) and to streamline so I wasn't running to the grocery store every day, a habit I've developed in my work from home mode. It's not a bad habit, but I wanted to get back in the mindset of weekly planning.

Was the recipe easy to follow?
Super easy. A little long for a weeknight - yeah, sad to say 45 minutes to cook is too long.

Did it taste good?
It did, even using the chicken breasts and legs and I had hated the week before (and had safely stashed in the freezer). Turns out, I really despise the smell of cooking chicken skin. It really is a bonesless, skinless world for me. Luckily Rich was home early and handled the browning of the chicken for me.

Adjustments?
I used some frozen chicken we had stashed away. Also, like the Real Simple blogger, I thought the sauce needed a little more. I added chopped olives. A bay leaf would have been good, too. And, like many of these "meals" I felt it needed a side vegetable - green beans for us.

Kid friendly?
They loved it. Andrew ate two chicken legs.

Would we make it again?
Sure. It would be a good company dish on the wekeend, as it was easy to make and you could easily scale it up. Actually it is very similar to a dish we made for friends a few months ago, though I cannot now remember where I found that recipe (another thing to declutter: my recipe collection!).

Week 2 - Friday pasta

Yikes, I am super far behind. Friday's meal was supposed to be ravioli with brussel sprouts and bacon. I say supposed to be because somehow I flaked when shopping and grabbed dried tortelloni instead of friesh or frozen ravioli. No idea why.

Was the recipe easy to follow?
Super easy and quick.

Did it taste good?
Delish.

Adjustments?
Well, the tortelloni, which I guess I grabbed because E&A are big fans. A is under 2, so we avoid nuts, which isn't that hard becasue neither Rich nor I really like most nuts cooked in things, so we left out the pecans. Which in our nut-hating opinion improved the dish immensely. Also. Why in the world would you get rid of all the bacon fat and even wipe out the pan, only to add oil to sautee the brussel sprouts? Ok, well, maybe it's healthier from a saturated fat perspective, but obviously the recipe writer does not keep a can of bacon fat in the freezer for exactly these sorts of purposes. I spooned out the excess bacon fat (and put it in the freezer), but yum. Seriously, why would you not use the baon fat? Madness.

Kid friendly?
Definitely

Would we make it again?
Absolutely! We have a favorite brussel sprout recipe with pistachios (one of our nut-hating exceptions) and a lot of lemon juice. But this might even be better. Well, heck, anything cooked with bacon is better.

Week 2 - Thursday tacos

Oops, I neglected to take pictures last night - Chorizo and Potato Tacos with Black Bean Salsa.

Was the recipe easy to follow?
Very easy and quick.

Did it taste good?
Very tasty.

Adjustments?
I used Italian sausage instead of chorizo, as offered as an option in the recipe. I figured chorizo might be too spicy. I think a mix would be good, but did you know you can buy Italian sausage filling not in a casing cheaper than sausages? Good to know! We also had regular salsa, too, and I served leftover yellow rice and green beans to the kids.

Kid friendly?
They loved it.

Would we make it again?
Heck yeah. I think best recipe so far (followed closely by the meatballs). We often do taco night and this was a nice twist. And, I cannot wait til Saturday morning, when we heat up the leftover sausage and potato and pour beaten eggs in and make a delicious breakfast.

Week 2 - Wednesday chicken

Last night's recipe was Red Currant-Glazed Chicken with Spinach.

Was the recipe easy to follow?
Pretty easy. Though Wednesday is soccer practice until 6, so it's always a rush to get dinner on the table. This was a longer recipe to prepare (35 minutes) which was a pain. If not for this challenge, last night would have definitely been a heat up leftovers dinner night. Luckily, Rich got home before I did so he was able to get things started, otherwise we wouldn't have eaten til 7.

Did it taste good?
Sadly, no. I think it was a couple of things. When you buy chicken parts, I've always been disappointed by the chicken breasts - they are always so huge and just taste off to me. I need some sort of sauce. And in this case, the glaze was on the skin, which neither of us ate, so I felt like the glaze imparted no flavor. Maybe buying more natural chicken, with smaller pieces, would have had better flavor, or if the glaze went under the skin or I don't know what. I really didn't like it at all, unlike the Real Simple blogger.

Adjustments?
Last night was apparently low carb night, with a menu of chicken with a side of spinach. We also made yellow rice.

Kid friendly?
Yeah. They liked their chicken legs. They both love yellow rice. Neither liked the spinach, shockingly.

Would I make it again?
Nope. I might glaze boneless skinless chicken breasts and grill then. Maybe. But I'd probably just marinade them in Criollo, my favorite. I cook spinach like this every once in a while - based on one of my favorite dishes at Jaleo, so that will stay.

Week 2 - Tuesday meatballs

Wow, am so far behind!! Tuesday's meal was Lamb Meatballs with Couscous and Feta. Yeah, I just wasn't going there - the recipe itself and the Real Simple blogger both talked about subbing with beef, which I did. But to change it up a little, I bought the "meatloaf mix," mostly beef but a little pork and veal, too.

Oh, this reminds me, I forgot talk about shopping this week - the total was $137, and that included the basics like milk, oj, bread, side vegetables (frozen and fresh), fruit, a few snacks, and Sunday's dinner of pot roast. Typically, I would have bought a fairly large roast so we'd have it for leftovers another night or two during the week, but this time I bough the smallest roast I could find, and I've had leftovers twice for lunch and there's probably one more lunch size serving left.

Anyway, meatballs.

Was the recipe easy to follow?
This is a perfect example of a how much I'm learning with this challenge. This meal took less than 20 minutes from start to finish. So incredibly easy. I've always thought meatballs were complicated to make and cook evenly but these were a piece of cake (and it helped Rich was home so he actually put them together). I'd also never have thought to have meatballs without tomato sauce.

Did it taste good?
I actually had a PTA meeting that night, so after getting dinner together I took off. I tasted a meatball before I left and it was tasty. Rich thought they were a little bland, but overall he reported it was good.

Adjustments?
Just the meatloaf mix - oh and also it needed a side of green beans for vegetables.

Kid friendly?
Yep, though couscous, while super easy to make, really sticks to kids' clothes and kind of gets everywhere. Elizabeth loooooves feta, which has always surprised me, but Andrew liked it too.

Would I make it again?
Definitely. So fast! Hmm, though it would depend on Rich's presence for the meatball mixing/shaping.

Week 2 - Monday shrimp

I was rushing - as usual - and those radishes shouldn't have made it in this pic - they are for Thursday's meal!

OK, look, there's no way around it, shrimp is a terrible choice from an environmental perspective. Wild caught Gulf shrimp are considered ok, but that's about it. Though, if you look at the seafood guides, there are shrimp listed as good choices - farmed inland, or in closed containment systems, or wild caught in the US or Canada. I don't know the percentages anymore, but the vast majority of shimp available in the marketplace is farmed or caught overseas, and it's a terrible choice for the environment. It just is. And a large part of me leaving the seafood world professionally had to do with my frustrations over getting all worked up about recommendations that the average consumer cannot find. Seriously? Pink shrimp from canda caught only certain months with a nordmoor grate? Are you kidding? Sure, highlight seasonal or regional good choices, but let's acknowledge most people have no chance of getting that option. But, recommendations and availability are getting better. Whole Foods sources all their seafood from mostly sustainable sources, and Trader Joes has indicated they are going to move in that direction. Until then, I buy what I can get and since it's not bought all that often, I don't feel too terrible about farmed shrimp from overseas.

Last night's dinner was Curry Shrimp and Snow Peas.

Was the recipe easy to follow?
It was - quick and fairly easy. I read it several times and studied the picture and just could not quite figure out what exactly I was supposed to do with the snow peas (slice length-wise). After dinner was over, it finally clicked - they were supposed to be sliced length-wise into strips! (I thought it was just one slice, which made no sense, and then I sliced them cross-wise). Ah. Oh well.

Did it taste good?
It did, though as the Real Simple blogger noted, it was a little bland. I wanted some more depth of flavor.

Adjustments?
Well, I was puzzled by the snow peas, as written above. And ultimately, decided I did not want them to be raw and cold - had they been sliced into matchstick size slices, maybe then I get the crunch factor they were aiming for. But I just had this big mental block about it. So instead I placed my cross-wise sliced pea pods on the top of the simmering shrimp to get them a little warm and slightly steamed. They were good.

Oh, also I had leftover zuchinni and left over mushrooms and just added that to the broth to simmer a few minutes along with the shrimp. Both were good additions.

Kid friendly?
They've always loved shrimp (which Elizabeth used to call snimp) and they loved this recipe.

Would I make again?
Maybe. It was easy and tasty, though oddly bland.

Week 1 - Friday steak

Wow, I am behind on posting, thanks to a busy weekend. Friday's recipe was Steak With Roasted Carrots and Onions. But, it had been a long week and we decided to go out to dinner, and so had the steak Saturday night. Don't get me wrong, I am critical of the monthly meal plan because they never acknowledge in the text that it is only 20 recipes. Everyone needs a night off from cooking, so were I an editor at Real Simple, I would have added a simple sentence that read something like, We've planned 5 meals a week for you, leaving a night for going out and a Sunday supper of your choosing.

Anyway, Saturday's dinner. Yum.

Was the recipe easy to follow?
Super easy and fast.

Did it taste good?
Delish. Our only problem was that our steaks were thick and had been frozen (with a nod to food safety, Real Simple recommends you freeze the meats you buy over the weekend for those meals that come later in the week) and might not have been fully thawed. So they took longer to cook, resulting in burned bits in the pan. I should have made the wine sauce in another pan, because even though I scraped most of the burnt out, the sauce still had a slightly bitter burned taste, though it was still good. The roasted vegetables were great.

Adjustments?
I had leftover potatoes from Monday so roasted those with the carrots. This meal was apparently the low carb option for the week, as the only side was supposed to be roasted carrots and onions. The Real Simple blogger said she wished she had rice, so I prepped some brown rice to accompany. The only other funny thing is Real Simple recommends a red wine with this recipe, but the ingredients call for white wine sauce. So we drank white wine with the steak. Still good!

Kid friendly?
For whatever unknown reason, Elizabeth has never liked any orange vegetables - no carrots or sweet potatoes. But otherwise, they loved it.

Would we make it again?
Absolutely.

Week 1 - Thursday pork

Last night's recipe was Pork Cutlets with Spicy Noodles.

Kind of an odd sideways shot - I overbrowned one of the cutlets but it was still good.

Was the recipe easy to follow?
It was easy and quick. I was a little worried about the pork, which had to be dredged in flour, then a beaten egg, then the panko bread crumbs, then the pan, but I set up a right-to-left assembly line, and used tongs, so it went very quickly and - bonus! - I never had to touch the raw meat. I got all 5 cutlets in the pan within a minute so they cooked evenly.
Did it taste good?
It did. The only thing is, the Real Simple blogger wrote about the flavorful meat, and I found it to be bland. Not sure I seasoned it enough with salt and pepper before all the dredging. Maybe the salt and pepper should have been in the flour? Or in the panko? Or maybe there should have been extra seasoning in the panko - some parsley, or maybe some dried basil? Something that kept it asian flavored - I originally thought grated parmesan, which would give more flavor, but wouldn't really match the other flavors. Or maybe the meat marinated in soy sauce?

Adjustments?
I was game to try jalepeno (which I have never once cooked with before), but Rich had done the grocery shopping and didn't buy one, figuring it would be too spicy for the kids, particularly Elizabeth. I was planning to use less than half, but none was probably the right call.

Also, I have to say the recipes themselves are turning out to be good. I hate to keep harping on this, but this is supposed to be a "meal plan," and I just wonder why there is this aversion to vegetables and/or side dishes? I want my kids to be eating plenty of vegetables, so once again we had a side dish - green beans. I thought about throwing peas into the noodles, but we were out as we didn't buy extra veggies in the grocery trip. Next week I'll know better and stock up.

And one last issue - half a pound of shitake mushrooms is a heck of a lot of mushrooms. Rich bought two 3.25 ounce containers. Once sliced, there were more mushrooms than noodles! So now I have a couple of extra ounces of shitakes sliced in the fridge, as I added as many as reasonable to the noodles but just could not add them all in.
I'll use the extras for tonight, so that'll be fine. Also, if you look at the real simple blogger's photos, I jsut don't believe that's 8 ounces of shitakes. Mushrooms are really light.

Kid friendly?
It was. Elizabeth (5) picked out the mushrooms with a big eeewwww, but ate the rest (oh, where did my good eater go?). Andrew (22 months) shoved fistfuls of 'new-news' (noodles) in his mouth whether there were mushrooms or not. Neither seemed to notice the ginger.

Would I make it again?
Sure. It was tasty, and the noodles would certainly work with chicken or fish or shrimp, while the breading on the cutlets could also be used different ways with different recipes.

Week 1 - Wednesday turkey burgers

Last night's recipe was turkey burgers with creamy romaine slaw.

Was the recipe easy to follow?
Super easy, and only took 20 minutes.

Did it taste good?
Yummy. The mustard in the burger added nice flavor (and just last week I made a recipe for turkey burgers that had parsley and soy sauce and was also quite good). The slaw was tasty.

Kid friendly?
Yeah. Well, there was no way either of them were eating any slaw. I'm surprised the dynamic duo like turkey burgers, but they do. We had sliders last week, which work better for them, but Elizabeth took a few bits of the burger on a bun, while Andrew took his burger apart.

Adjustments?
Well, this is supposed to be a full meal, right? A turkey burger with a couple of pickles and optional potato chips on the side is NOT a full meal. I thought I had sweet potato fries in the freezer, which would have been perfect, but I didn't. So we had regular fries (baked in the oven) and some peas and some garbanzo beans so we wouldn't leave the table hungry!

Would I make it again?
Sure! The only bad part was the Touching Of The Meat. I was a vegetarian for 9+ years, and am still squeamish about raw meat. So I had hoped Rich would make the burgers, but no such luck. You're not supposed to overwork ground meat anyway so the burgers don't get tough, so it was just the forming of the patties that made my skin crawl. Sliders are definitely not as bad, as I use a scoop to put the meat in the special slider pan (of course we have a special slider pan!) and smoosh it down with the slider lid.

Week 1 - Tuesday pasta

Last night was supposed to be penne with tomatoes, eggplant, and mozzarella. Here's the thing: I hate eggplant. So, two days in and we're already 2 for 2 in making changes. Rich suggested subbing zucchini, which worked fine. This is similar to recipes I used to make all the time when I was a vegetarian and still often do. Easy, fast, tasty, relatively healthy, and filling.


Was the recipe easy to follow?
Super easy. Definitely a 30 minute meal.

Did it taste good?
It was really good. Nice mix of flavors. I've never added mint to a pasta dish like this, but it added good flavor. And I never would have added red pepper without the recipe, but that gave it a little kick without making it spicy - the kiss of death for Elizabeth.

Kid friendly?
Yeah, mostly. They ate the pasta and some tomato and cheese. I think they got some nutrients beyond plain pasta (sometimes I use whole wheat pasta, but honestly I grew up on plain pasta and just prefer it). I keep offering zucchini and they reject it every time. I keep trying, though (I'm actually not wild about zucchini, either, but I eat it).

Adjustments?
The recipe calls for 1/4 cup olive oil to sautee the eggplant (in a non-stick pan!). I never cook eggplant, but isn't it known for soaking up oil? Why so much oil? I sprayed the pan with Pam and sprinkled in a little olive oil for flavor. Also, had olives left over from the day before so chopped them up and added. Yum.

Would I make it again?
Sure. This was a tasty variation on a pretty standard meal. We need to grow mint in the yard - I've always been afraid of it taking over the garden, but it's really a shame to buy mint when it is so easy to grow.

Week 1 - Monday tilapia

Welcome to day 1 of my 4 week (weekday only!) recipe challenge. Last night's recipe was Roasted Tilapia, Potatoes, and Lemons. This was a good recipe to kick things off, except I don't like fish, so I cooked a couple of chicken tenderloins for myself. I briefly sauteed them on both sides for less than 2 minutes per side but finished cooking them in the oven, to ensure they were done at the same time as the fish. Step 1 - roast potatoes, lemon, thyme in olive oil in oven. Step 2 - prep next step - add olives, fish, (optional chicken), sprinkle with paprika, salt and pepper. Try not to splatter open magazine containing all the recipes.

Step 3: finish roasting everything

Was the recipe easy to follow?
Yes, super easy. The write up says total time 45 minutes, hands on time 10 minutes and that was a slight underestimate. I started at 5:50 and thought it was done at 6:38 (so 48 minutes) but not all the potatoes were cooked through, so we were able to eat but the pan had to go back in the oven. And I like recipes where there is downtime, to have a break to go check on the dynamic duo who might be wreaking havoc in the living room.

Did it taste good?
It did. A teeny bit bland, I'd say, but overall it was good. Roasted olives are yummy.

Kid-friendly?
Eh. Elizabeth likes fish so she ate most of her serving. Andrew said he was hungry before he sat down, but he didn't eat much.

Adjustments?
This was a mighty simple meal - white fish and potatoes. I had to add a vegetable, green beans. And adjusted a chicken tenderloin for me.

Would I make it again?
Eh. Maybe. Since I don't like fish I wouldn't have much motivation, except maybe during Lent. It was easy.

Tilapia is generally a decent seafood choice from an environmental and health perspective. Nearly all of it is farm raised, but the label on this fish says wild caught. Um, doubt it - more than likely farmed-raised in South America. Not a perfect choice, but not terrible.

Here's the Real Simple blogger's take. If I made it again, I'd go with her suggestion of broiling for an extra few minutes at the end to crisp things up, and I'd have to add a few minutes extra at the beginning for the potatoes. I never, ever find the time to roast potatoes to be accurate in recipes. Maybe my oven is not hot enough.

A new feature

So, when my parents were here, my mother told me AwwwClutter had become boring. Indeed. That didn’t stop her from from taking 4 pairs of shoes home, though, and she tried to cover herself by saying I had stopped posting regularly, but then my dad made some remarks about the bad pictures and overly long stories. When your own parents are bored, well, what can you do? I am going to continue though with renewed vigor, because I really do want to ditch a few more pairs.

My friend K. suggested I post pics of my entire outfit, but I’m not quite ready to upgrade my photography and more importantly, my pajama wearing, so no full outfit shots for now, though that might change.

But, I’ve also found myself with a little more open time this coming month, so the decluttering is going to pick back up.

And, more importantly, I am adding a cooking angle. I had a coupon for $1 off Real Simple magazine, and HT was offering double dollar coupons (love that!), so I bought a copy of October’s issue. Flicking through it, I noticed a feature story on a “month’s worth of dinner!”

So, why the heck not. I’m going to cook with Real Simple this month. One of my friends, TSM, has a grid she follows for, well, everything, including nightly dinners. The thought of a grid makes me itchy – I’m more of a free form, spontaneous person. And I do ok in the nightly dinner routine, with a fair amount of variety and diversity. But my parents also make fun of our cooking style (hi mom and dad! So happy to have you visit for a week!) – we tend to like to cook big batches of things, and have leftovers more than half the week. Love nights when I am just able to heat up something in the microwave. So this will be a change, cooking every night. We’ll see if we like it.

I’ll comment on the recipes probably the next day. Today, here are just my thoughts on starting the challenge. First, in the magazine and website, they talk about a full month, but really it is 4 weeks. But really, it’s Monday-Friday for 4 weeks – no recipes for Saturday or Sunday. Which is fine, but it really and truly annoys me that in the text they never address there are no recipes for Saturday or Sunday! They offer a shopping list and several times say this is all you need for a months worth of dinners, But THAT IS NOT TRUE. Annoying. Very, very annoying, actually. But it’s also fine as it gives us some leeway, I guess, for our own choices or for going out once a week.

Second, I tend to like recipes that are linked. Buy a whole onion, but use half in this recipe and half in recipe #2. Cook extra chicken breasts and use them in the next nights’ choice. Or whatever. That just seems more efficient to me. But no, this is 28 different meals.

None of the recipes seems to take more than 45 minutes, so that’s good for weeknights, but I’ve found in the past Real Simple timing can be quite off. So I’m watching for that.

I also like to cook seasonally – and by that I mean following the sales in the store flyers. So chicken when it is on sale, and beef when that is on sale, etc. So this could be a shock to our grocery budget. And finally, in looking over the recipes, while they say it’s a complete meal I think some of the nights are lacking in vegetables. So I may have to supplement.

The ingredients for this week cost $155, including the staples of milk, OJ, eggs, bread, etc. We typically spend about $100 a week, so already we’re over. We’ll see how it goes the rest of the month.

Wish me luck, let’s keep our fingers crossed the kids like the food, and we’ll see how it goes.