The past two weeks of meal planning were thrown completely off by a major storm that knocked out our power for four days. While a friend who had electricity saved all my chicken and pork by stowing it in her freezer for me, we still ended up throwing out a ton of food. I have not gotten around to replenishing anything but the basics (half and half, sour cream, jarred garlic [I cannot quit it], cheese). We have eaten out a good deal since the storm hit, and boy is it easy to not cook when you have been not cooking for awhile. Anyway, we are getting back to normal this week if it kills us.

We are in this weird liminal space between summer and fall where I cannot for the life of me decide whether I want to force myself to grill chicken and eat salad… or I want to give in the urge to make rich, stewy fall suppers. Let’s try a little of both, shall we?

Dinners the Week of September 24 to September 30

• Tacos

Note: My family grew weary of Taco Tuesday so we took a little break… but it’s BACK, baby!

• Chicken Paprikas

Note: The last time we made this, the chicken was weird and put me off chicken for… a long time. I am now firmly back in the Pro-Chicken camp, but I am a little apprehensive. Yet chicken paprikas is one of my favorite foods, so I can’t stay away forever… Well, hopefully this turns out okay.

• Asian Chicken Salad

Note: I saw a similar salad on a menu recently and realized I’ve never tried making something like this. So let’s give it a shot.

Follow up: This was good! Except I… made some alterations. First, I added corn and avocado because that’s how I roll. Second, I made swordfish instead of chicken because it was on a killer sale and I couldn’t resist. Third, I did not love the peanut dressing, so I also made this teriyaki dressing except I didn’t have pineapple juice so I used the juice from the mandarin oranges. My husband used a combination of the dressings and enjoyed it very much. Fourth, I didn’t eat any mandarin oranges. Fifth, I forgot about the cabbage which is likely still in my fridge. I am the kind of person Internet recipe writers HATE.

• Slow-Cooker Indian-Style Curry

Note: We haven’t had this in ages and I’m excited for it.

• Pork Tenderloin with Green Beans

Note: We did not get to make this the last time I planned it due to the power outage, so let’s try it again this week.

• Slow Roasted Gochujang Chicken with Potatoes & Steamed Broccoli

Note: This is another one we did not get to make the last time I planned it. Hopefully it isn’t cursed or anything. As I said previously: I honestly have no idea what Gochujang tastes like, so it could be a Very Bad Plan. But it sounds lovely and my idea is to cook it on Sunday while we’re watching football and have a Nice Family Dinner together (not that Carla will eat anything with flavor. But hopefully she’ll eat the components.).

Follow Up: This was good! The flavor of the gochujang was the perfect blend of tangy and spicy. The marinade was very easy to make, and it was simple to just set everything into a pan and let it cook for a couple of hours. The one disappointment, for me, was the garlic. I was really excited about all the slow-roasted garlic, but it didn’t really ADD to the experience. I might do without it, next time.  Did I forget to the do the scallions? Yes, I did. Crap. They are probably languishing in my fridge with the cabbage from the salad. Oh – I have also decided I am Over skin-on chicken. It’s just so flabby and gross and you put the marinade ON it, so you miss out on the marinade flavor. I know that it helped flavor the potatoes or whatever, and helped keep the chicken from drying out, but there has to be SOME WAY to do with this boneless skinless chicken breasts. I think it would be better.

• Date Night

What are you planning for dinner this week?