Menu Monday

Know what's super, super, SUPER expensive?

If you guessed "moving", you are CORRECT!

This is a roundabout way of telling you all that I'm making an extra-concerted effort to cook at home this week, use the stuff I've got in the pantry, and stay away from those tempting goodies at Trader Joe's. We've finally got the kitchen put away, so last week was our first foray into making a menu plan and sticking to it.

(Of course, after I planned it out, I realized that it was entirely inspired by Kate at Elefantitas Alegres. So she gets all the credit for this one.)

Wednesday

Southwestern Falafel with Quesadillas

 

This was the point when I thought that I would have a falafel failure.

Falafel SUCCESS!

   Thursday

 Quinoa Cups from Kate

 

What's that, you say? That does not appear to be a cup, but rather a pile of quinoa? Balderdash, I say!

No really, this was a structural failure but a culinary "pretty good." I wanted to find something that I could use as an end of the week vehicle for leftovers. It wound up pretty tasty, but could definitely use some improvements seasoning-wise. On the architectural side, I've got absolutely no idea where I went wrong, but I promise that Kate seems to always get hers to stay in one muffin-sized piece.

Friday

Broccoli-Stuffed Chicken (adapted from Skinnytaste)

Forgot to take a picture, but this was tasty and easy. I stupidly used the same spoon that I scooped the broccoli out of the food processor with to stuff the raw chicken breasts and wound up contaminating the leftovers. Don't be like me, because there was a whole bunch of broccoli-cheesy-garlicky deliciousness left over that I probably could have used creatively. 

Sunday

"Mad Men Mango Margaritas" and Portobello Mushroom Quesadillas

Again, forgot to take a picture, but I will definitely be making these margaritas again soon. They are not normally called Mad Men Margaritas, but when you drink alongside Don Draper things tend to get monikers. Also, you should probably go make one for yourself. Call it a Monday Mango Margarita, and then bring me one.

Menu Monday: What the Heck am I Going to Do With These Superbowl Leftovers?

Kicking things off with a bit of shameless self-promotion: have you entered my giveaway yet?

Now, onto the food!

Since I didn't do too much cooking this week, I thought it might be fun to talk about my Superbowl snacks and see if any of you have ideas for what to do with the leftovers. I'm pretty stumped!

Carnitas: As I mentioned last week, my Superbowl entree was carnitas, courtesy of Smitten Kitchen. Now, I'm not sure what exactly happened - I worry that I bought the wrong kind of meat? - but mine came out less carnitas-y and more pulled-pork-y.

Looks like tuna. Tastes like Carnitas.

Since the meat doesn't have an overwhelming Mexican flavor, I'm envisioning the leftovers in some sort of Asian-inspired peanut sauce/noodle concoction. Anyone have a favorite recipe for me to try?!

Tortillas: Due to some guest-related RSVP issues, we wound up with a few more tortillas we needed. Like.......3 packages more than we needed. Quesadillas are the obvious choice here (as I've professed my love for their cheesy goodness on more than one occasion), but if someone has another idea I'd love to hear it! I think quesadillas will only get us through one package.

Slaw: This one is the real stumper. I made Pioneer Woman's Cilantro-Jalapeno slaw to go alongside the pork, and I'm pretty sure that was its only purpose in life. Is there any way to re-purpose slaw?

For those of you in DC, don't forget that it's Restaurant Week! I've got reservations at Rasika and I just. can't. wait.

I'll let you all know how the great leftover experiment ends next week!

Menu Monday and Weekend Recap

 Happy Monday, everybody! This past weekend was a busy one -- unfortunately I didn't get nearly enough 'responsible' tasks done, like laundry, my homework, or my housecleaning. However I definitely got a lot of the "fun" things crossed off my to-do list, such as:

1. Make a Caramel Apple Tart

Mine did not come out nearly as beautifully as Deb's, but it was certainly tasty and I got to take my new, totally-unnecessary-purchase mandolin out for a whirl. Plus, I got to learn firsthand why pastry chefs call hot caramel "edible napalm" due to a hot pan gone awry (as documented in this tweet.)

2. Go hiking in Great Falls National Park

When its a beautiful fall day in DC, it's only natural to head out to the wilderness to enjoy the amazing weather and fall colors.

Unfortunately, everyone else in DC will have that same idea. This is the line to enter the park.

It took us over 2 hours to complete a 30 minute trip to Great Falls Park in McLean, VA. However once we FINALLY arrived we made good use of our remaining daylight hours and saw some beautiful views as a result.

We hiked the River Trail, which follows the Potomac and has some truly spectacular views of the Falls.

We stopped on the way home for some fresh cider, then settled in for some dinner and our favorite TV night - Once Upon a Time, Revenge, and Boardwalk Empire!

Dinner - Chicken Milanese with Roasted Broccoli

In food-related news, here's what I had cooking this past week:

1. *Chili Baked Potato*

This was a great way to use up leftover chili, plus stretch a meal into two! We baked the potatoes until they were crispy, then added the chili and our toppings. It doesn't seem like a lot of food but the potato will fill you up fast. Plus when you use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and low-fat cheese, it's really not too bad for you.

2. * Sausage-Stuffed Zucchini, courtesy of SkinnyTaste*

 These turned out to be a huge hit - they were delicious, a cinch to throw together, and infinitely adaptable.

3. *Jambalaya-like concoction, adapted from Beantown Prepster*

 Please excuse the photo, because this was probably the most delicious meal of the week. I started with MVB's recipe for Spicy Skillet Rice, but when I read over the recipe I thought to myself, "This looks sort of like jambalaya." I subbed chicken stock for the water, threw in chicken andouille sausage from Trader Joes, and added a TON of hot sauce -- the result was a pretty tasty substitute for Cajun cooking!

What have you been cooking lately?

xoxo,

b

Menu Monday

Hello friends! Did you think that I had forgotten about you? I promise I didn't. But between a crazy week at work and the Jewish holidays and Steve getting an outpatient spine procedure (he's fine!), last week went off the rails a little bit.

But I'm back and ready to share my culinary highs and lows of the past couple weeks with you:

Highs:

*Crab-stuffed Portabellas*

These were super simple to make and fast: crab from the seafood counter at Harris Teeter, panko, egg, seasonings, mixed together and packed into a portabello. Baked until they were set and sprinkled with Old Bay on top. Easy peasy!

*Tomato Soup and "Fancy" Grilled Cheese*

This was one of my lazier meals, but the perfect way to welcome in fall. (The grilled cheese is "fancy" because we got the cheese at Whole Foods. I'm nothing if not classy.) We usually vary what kind we get but this time we went with a blend of mozzarella and pepperjack. I made a faux aioli (garlic and mayo mixed together) to grill the sandwiches with, and served it with Whole Foods tomato soup from the prepared foods bar.

*Black Bean and Zucchini Chili*

This recipe was courtesy of Real Simple. We doctored it with a serrano chili, two jalapenos, and almost triple the amount of garlic/chili powder/cayenne to turn up the heat. Served with avocado, tortilla chips, greek yogurt (subbed for sour cream) and cilantro, this was the perfect thing to cozy up to a night of ABC Television with (p.s. OMG REVENGE.I am so happy you are back.)

Lows:

*Pumpkin Peanut Curry Noodles with Shrimp and Scallops*

Technically I didn't really consider this a low. I've made it before and I find it pretty tasty, although this time I used way too much Chinese Five-Spice powder as a crust on the seafood. It's made its way down to the 'lows' column, however, because Steve would not touch it with a ten-foot pole and proclaimed it "the worst thing I have ever cooked." Apparently he had way too much of the five-spice powder on his recent trip to Asia and was looking forward to never smelling it again, only to walk in the front door and find my entire apartment smelling like a Taipei night market. Whoops.

*Quesadillas, black beans, cheesy broiled avocado*

Again, not necessarily a low, especially since this was something that I could throw together in between coming home from work and heading to class. It was just sort of meh. I've written about my love of quesadillas before and if I had more time (or ambition) I could have dressed them up further. These were just an easy way to get my Taco Tuesday fix.

So...what have you been cooking lately?

xoxo,
b

Menu Monday and MADONNA

 Last week, my older sister called me to let me know that she'd won tickets to see Madonna at Yankee Stadium in a company raffle and did I have any interest in joining her?

Um. Did I have any interest?

Yes, yes I did.

Or rather, OMG OMG OMG MADONNA YESSSS!!!!!

I took the bus up on Friday night and spent the weekend at her apartment. After taking BHB's advice and taking a SoulCycle class on Saturday morning and meeting Michelle at the adorable Sarabeth's for brunch, we were on our way to the Bronx to realize a dream 27 years in the making.*

Yes, it was raining. Yes, we wore garbage bags for the majority of the concert. Yes, we only had one umbrella. Was it worth it?**

I'll let you decide for yourself. The evidence:

The hearts are for anonymity, and to show our love for Madonna. Look at our seats!

*Vogue*

Cone bra, as seen from the jumbo-tron

Madonna wants us to think that she can play guitar. (side note: She can't. But she looks awesome faking it!)

I like this just because you can see how hard it was raining.

 

The set list included:

1. Opening Prayer /Girl Gone Wild
2. Revolver
3. Gang Bang
4. Papa Don’t Preach
5. Hung Up
6. I Don’t Give A
7. Best Friend / Heartbeat (Interlude)
8. Express Yourself / Born This Way
9. Turn Up The Radio
10. Give Me All Your Luvin’
11. Open Your Heart
12. Masterpiece
13. Justify My Love (Interlude)
14. Vogue
15. Candy Shop
16. Human Nature / Erotica
17. Like A Virgin
18. Nobody Knows Me (Interlude)
19. I’m Addicted
20. I’m A Sinner
21. Like A Prayer
22. Celebration

She also played "Holiday" as a special treat for the NY audience - a fan favorite!

Once she started playing the rain didn't even matter. It was just amazing to be there, hearing all her classics, dancing with everybody in the stadium. I'm so happy I got to go!

On to a Menu Monday Update:

Last week, I challenged myself to cook a healthy meal for myself every night and not buy lunch or dinner all week. While I had some hits and some misses, overall I was pretty happy with myself for achieving those goals.

Last week:

Monday: Skinnytaste Turkey Stuffed Peppers: These are always a hit. Plus I made a double recipe and have a tray in my freezer for emergencies now.

Tuesday: Cheese Tortellini with Spinach, Peas and Brown Butter: Know what would be helpful on this one? Remembering to buy spinach.  I made do with just peas and it was a tasty (and extremely fast!) dinner.

Wednesday: Ginger Fried Rice: I've had this recipe bookmarked for years now, and I wanted it to be amazing so badly. So I was disappointed when it came out just.....meh. It's decent. I love SK and I don't doubt that her's turned out beautifully, I'm just not sure where I went wrong on this one. Plus it made a TON of rice and I have leftovers for another full dinner tonight.

*Fried Rice in progress*

Thursday: Roasted Chicken Thighs with Zucchini and CousCous: This one was another that was just okay, but fast. I mixed a cut up chicken breast with a box of Near East cous cous, a tomato, and a sauteed zucchini. I also threw in a can of chickpeas and it was pretty tasty! Next time I would add feta.

For this week I've planned:

*Sunday: Pizza with Prosciutto, Blue Cheese, and Fig Jam* (Since it's Monday, I can already report that this was delicious.)
*Monday: Stir-Fry with leftover Fried Rice*
*Tuesday: I have class so I'll probably buy dinner, but if I don't I've got Portobello quesadillas planned*
*Wednesday: Pumpkin-Peanut Curry Noodles
*Thursday: Class again, so I'll probably do leftovers or pick something up at Trader Joe's across the street*
*Friday: Back to New York! We've got a late bus so I'm not sure what I'll whip up before we head out.*

Happy Monday everyone!

xoxo,

b

* I like to think that I was Madonna's youngest fan, since I was fanatical about her music that they would play in my toddler dance classes. I even had a t-shirt (with shoulder pads!) with her face on it when I was in kindergarten. And please believe if I could find that t-shirt today I would wear it in a heartbeat.

** In case you hadn't decided for yourself, the answer is "OMG OMG OMG MADONNA YESSSS!!!!!"

Pseudo-Foodie Shame, or Menu Tuesday

So Steve is out of town this week on a business trip. Which means I am cooking for one -- one of my least favorite things to do.

I don't consider myself to be a gourmet by any means. I like to cook, and I love to eat. But while I've gotten a pretty decent system in place cooking for two (that usually grants me leftovers for lunch the next day), I still haven't gotten the hang of cooking for just myself.

Last time Steve went away, I talked a big game. I was going to cook every night for myself. I would make meals that he wouldn't touch, vegetarian meals, "lady food", you get the idea. I was pretty smug.

Do you know what I ate every. single. night. that Steve was gone?

QUESADILLAS.
(Albeit extremely delicious cheesy ones.)

This was the night I put extra effort in and actually cut up the avocado.

 
Granted, I love quesadillas. And technically the meal was vegetarian, so Steve would have protested. But the points that I gained in taste I certainly lost in plating, technical difficulty, and originality.

Some nights when I'm alone I get a little classier (read: even lazier.)

Peach, brie, wine, bread. Turns out woman can live on wine and cheese alone.

This week I am determined to do better. I've been to the grocery store (including a trip to suburban Mecca, Costco), planned my menus, and am holding myself accountable. So for this week:

* Monday: Skinnytaste Turkey Stuffed Peppers*

*Tuesday: Cheese Tortellini with Spinach, Peas and Brown Butter*

*Wednesday: Ginger Fried Rice*

*Thursday: Roasted Chicken Thighs with Zucchini and CousCous*

Friday I'm taking the bus to NY so dinner will probably be a sandwich or salad picked up at Union Station.

Next week I'll let you know how I did!

xoxo,

b