tacos are my favorite food

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 Dinners This Week

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? 

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Dinners This Week

Sometimes a person wishes she could just sit in front of her laptop and read blogs all day long. Alas, NaBloPoMo desires notwithstanding, a person still has to plan meals, cook them, and eat them. (And post about them online so that Future Her can find the ideas and recipes when she’s completely baffled about what to make each night.)

Dinners for the Week of November 10-16

  • Ravioli with Beef and Green Beans: Ah yes, we’ve had another episode of “Suzanne Doesn’t Know How Much Food to Cook for Guests.” I made a big crockpot full of cider braised pot roast when friends visited this weekend. And now we have enough cider braised pot roast to last us the rest of 2025. Tonight I’m going to use the leftovers to make a made-up meal: cider-braised pot roast with goat cheese and caramelized onion ravioli and a cider reduction sauce, with pan-sauteed haricots verts on the side. Will this taste as good in reality as it sounds like it will, in my imagination? Hard to say, but I’m leaning toward “no.”
  • Fried Rice: My mom occasionally makes fried rice and it’s always very good and seems quite easy. Trader Joe’s has a package of frozen vegetable fried rice and I plan to throw some eggs, soy sauce, and frozen shrimp in with it to round things out.
  • Black Bean Burritos: We haven’t had these in awhile and I am very much in the mood for beany cheesy goodness drowned in hot sauce. 
  • Crispy Slow Cooker Carnitas: What is a week without tacos? A sad week indeed, I always say. Mainly I have a pork tenderloin in my freezer that keeps blocking the freezer drawer when I try to open it, which I’m pretty sure is a cry for attention.

My husband and I also have a date night this week, but as usual, even though I have known for many weeks that we have an upcoming kid-free evening, I have not made any effort to make reservations. Sigh. Perhaps we will order takeout and watch a horror movie instead of going out?

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Nearly No-Cook Dinners This Week

We are in the midst of a heat wave and I am still expected to provide meals for my family. I may have scoured every blog post and online article about “best no-cook meals.” No, I will never make gazpacho, every blog post and online article about “best no-cook meals.” My husband and I discussed the options I bookmarked and landed on a good meal plan for the week. There are a lot of chickpeas, quinoa, and pesto on the list. The dinners are kind of cilantro heavy, though, so if you hate cilantro, consider yourself warned. 

Dinners for the Week of June 23-June 29

  • Street Corn Pasta Salad with Cilantro Pesto: The original recipe calls for goat cheese, but I am going to swap that out for cotija. I am also going to get us some grilled shrimp from the prepared foods section to add as our protein.
  • Ground Beef Tacos in the Crockpot: The taco meat requires cooking, but I’ll make it in the crockpot to keep our kitchen cool. I usually heat up corn taco shells in the oven, so I will have to figure out if I can stand doing that or if I can make them in our air fryer.
  • Pesto Farmer’s Market Salad with Grilled Chicken: My husband and I are weary of the (delicious) salads in our regular rotation, so we’re going to give this one a try. Instead of my go-to balsamic, this salad calls for a pesto vinaigrette which is intriguing. I will “grill” the chicken in our air fryer.

I am hoping that many of these dinners produce leftovers because I don’t want to use my oven for lunch, either.

When you think of Good Bread, what do you think of? My husband requested sourdough; I am happy to oblige. What’s your favorite summery salad? What else do you like to eat when you refuse to use the oven?