Hello there! I am posting every day at A Novel Project for NaBloPoMo, but since I still have to eat dinner slash feed my family, I’m popping back over here to list the meals I plan to make.
Dinners for the Week of November 17-23
Lemongrass Chicken Stir Fry: I’m in the mood for a stir fry, but I’m not in the mood for one of my normal stir fries. Also, I picked up a tube of squeezable lemongrass the other day and want to see if it… does anything.
Slow Cooker Carnitas: We have a giant two pack of pork tenderloins in the freezer, and carnitas is the perfect way to turn them into multiple meals.
Burrito Bowls: The recipe calls for chicken, but this is how I plan to use up some leftover carnitas. Oooh – or maybe I will modify this vegan quinoa bowl recipe (with a chipotle cilantro vinaigrette – YUM) instead.
Sauteed Shrimp and Garlic Shitake Green Beans: Can you tell I’ve just had another fun shopping expedition to Trader Joe’s? I picked up a bag of frozen garlic shitake green beans and I think they would pair perfectly with some sauteed shrimp… and some leftover quinoa or brown rice from burrito bowl night.
That’s all I’ve got this week! I am also on the hunt for a delicious cheesecake – preferably with a gingersnap or Oreo cookie crust – that I can bring to Thanksgiving dinner next week. Do you have a Thanksgiving-y cheesecake I can try?
At 5:30 this morning, I was torn from a nightmare by a low discordant keening. I might describe it as “toddler impersonating whale calls,” but my husband said it was more “cat meets blender.” We watched Longlegslast night, so the noise quite easily could have been the moaning of Nic Cage at his most grotesque and terrifying. (Even though I enjoyed it, I am not recommending the movie; it was Weird AF.)
We confirmined that the noise was, somehow, our neighbor’s snowplow – which means that it persisted for quite some time, as their driveway is not short. I did not fall back to sleep.
On the positive side, we got a ton of snow over the weekend. Oh, how I adore snow. I love the trees lacquered in white, how everything – shadows, blue skies, bare trees – assumes an extra vibrancy against the snow. I love sunshine caught in billions of ice crystals and winked back at me as I walk. Grey skies seem more dramatic and moody; sunny days have an extra sheen of cheer. I love it I love it I love it.
Soup is on the menu tonight, and therefore takes one of three spots for dinners this week. But before we get into that, I want to report on dinners past because they were YUM.
Dinners Last Week
Sheet Pan Veggie Shawarma: This was easy (aside from the veggie chopping, which is easy but time consuming) (I listen to an audiobook while chopping) and SO good. Few things are better than a big pile of roasted veggies. The seasoning/marinade was delicious, although I ended up doubling it because I added some chicken tenders to the mix. They were a good addition, especially for my husband. Also, because I was on a Green Sauce High from the previous week’s Birchie-recommended meal, I made the cilantro yogurt sauce from this recipe and slapped it on top of my veggie shawarma. One of the best decisions I made all week.
Salmon Burgers: For some reason, I dillied and dallied and delayed in making these, but then finally I did make them, and they were easy and yummy as usual. The recipe is from Cook’s Illustrated, and I’ve got a photo of the recipe here in case you want to try them too. Oh! The remarkable thing about this meal is that I forced Carla to eat it, too. She loves salmon and eats it regularly. This is the closest thing to salmon possible. She DID eat it, even though she didn’t particularly like it (it has teeny tiny shallots minced in it).
Beef Birria Tacos: The first time I ate beef birria was in Phoenix at a taco place, and I fell instantly, irrevocably in love. (By the way, I learned from my recipe search that birria is traditionally made with goat, but I’m not big on goat so I used chuck roast.) The need to eat beef birria again has been growing stronger and stronger with each passing week. However, I could not for the life of me find a recipe that I wanted to follow. Too many ingredients or too few; equipment I didn’t want to use; too many steps. What I ended up doing was cobbling together a recipe out of a bunch of recipes online… and it was SO GOOD. The recipe made enough for at least three generous meals, and we immediately froze the remaining beef and consommé, and I cannot stop thinking about it. So rich and spicy and omg perfection. My husband took over the actual taco making, which involves dipping a corn tortilla in the consommé, frying it, adding cheese and beef, and then putting on my plate for immediate consumption. This one is a keeper from a taste standpoint, but from a work standpoint, I think it’s something I would make maybe once a year.
There’s really no way I can top last week’s meals, so I’m not even going to try. This week is not about flash and romance, but instead about solid, reliable faves. Also, chicken was on sale, so it’s all about the chicken. (Luckily, these are veggie-heavy meals so I can limit or completely ignore the chicken in my own servings.)
Chicken and Zucchini Stir Fry: I am more in the mood for this Szechuan Stir Fry, but the bell pepper quality was very poor today, so I pivoted to chicken and zucchini stir fry instead. Of course, I have to go back to the grocery store to buy things I forgot to buy (namely: the two key ingredients of Ham Sandwich: the ham and the sandwich rolls), so perhaps I will peruse the peppers to see if the prospects are more perky.
Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas: The bell peppers may not have been crisp enough for stir fry, but they were of acceptable quality for fajitas.
Here’s hoping that tonight I dream of swimming in a sea of birria consommé.
I made a second batch of pumpkin bread this morning. Second batch in a week, I should specify. The first batch went wrong somehow and resulted in a very stodgy, goopy mess that I threw away after exchanging multiple Paul Hollywood quips with my husband.
Today’s batch is better. I mean, it’s not going to win any beauty pageants. (Why doesn’t it ever RISE?) And it was still slightly stodgy, which I don’t understand. (Okay, I didn’t leave it in for the full 65 to 75 minutes the recipe suggests, but when I checked at sixty minutes, the toothpicks came out clean! That should mean DONE and NO STODGE!)
Stodginess aside, it tastes wonderful. Bonus, my house smells wonderfully of cinnamon and cloves and pumpkin.
Speaking of pumpkin… It’s making its way into the menu again this week. You should be aware that I don’t really like pumpkin. Pumpkin bread – okay, and maybe a smattering of other pumpkin desserts – is the lone exception. But my husband suggested it, and then he suggested another pumpkin recipe when I wasn’t properly enthusiastic about the first one, and a) I try to accept his dinner suggestions because I want to encourage him to help me with the Sisyphean task of coming up with meals to eat day in, day out, every day, day after day, until death, and b) he clearly is in a pumpkin frame of mind, so why not feed that craving?
My range of expressions as I go through the Pumpkin Stages of Acceptance.P.S. I look nothing at all like Kristen Wiig.
This week is supposed to be damp and cooler if not cool, so I am going all out with the hearty meals.
Chicken Shawarma with Steamed Broccoli: We haven’t had this old favorite in awhile; it will be good this week.
Beef with Sugar Snap Peas: I’m just in the mood for this?? Feels like it bridges the gap between “fresh and summery” and “nourishing and warm” pretty well. I might throw in a red bell pepper if I’m feeling fancy.
Apple Cider Glazed Pork Chops with Green Beans: This is a recipe that I used to make ALL the time… and yet I can find no record of it on my blog! Has it really been THAT long since I’ve made it? Well. Time to fix that.
Ground Beef Tacos: My daughter is having a friend sleep over this weekend; the last time she slept over, she was deeply disappointed that we didn’t have tacos for dinner, which was what I’d served the previous time she’d been over. This time, I will make tacos once again. It’s really a gift for all of us.
