What’s for Dinner? Volume 4
These are actually meals from the last 2 1/2 weeks, because even though they were all PLANNED for one week there were several nights I was sick/didn’t feel like cooking so we had take-out. And by take-out I mean fast food. But doesn’t “take-out” sound so much nicer? Like maybe it was stir fried veggies over brown rice instead of cheeseburgers and fries.
It’s always cheeseburgers and fries.
All my recipes this week came from Rachael Ray’s Express Lane Meals. Despite not being able to stand RR’s voice on TV for more than 20 seconds and her super annoying habit of calling things like PB&J “American nut spread with fresh fruit preserves on a sliced whole grain loaf”, her recipes really are both fast and easy and written for someone who isn’t very confident in the kitchen. I’ve had and liked this cookbook since college, but hadn’t made any of these before (besides the pizza, which I don’t even use the book for because I’ve made so many changes. Recipe coming on Friday!)
1. Steak, Fried Onions, and Potatoes Salad Bowl with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette (I substituted some homemade rosemary potatoes for the potato sticks in the salad)
2. Inside-out Pizza-dilla Margerita (see what I mean about the fancy names?)
3. Taco Salad – Our easiest favorite meal. Make taco meat as directed on envelope of taco seasoning. Dump over Fritos. Add various taco toppings. Eat too much.
4. Teriyaki Chicken with Warm Ginger-Carrot Slaw
5. Spinach-Artichoke Cheesy Tortellini – That’s not QUITE the recipe from the book but it’s close. I also discovered I still hate tortellini from a Very Traumatic Childhood Experience and if I make this again it will be over ravioli instead.
6. Pasta with Broccoli and Sausage with a Ricotta Surprise
7. Thai Chicken Pizza – Linked to Rachael’s recipe, but mine is WAY better
After seeing the total lack of veggies in my Volume 3 set of recipes, I decided to make more of an effort this week. Since there is at least one veggie in every meal (as long as I can count tomatoes) and toddler ate both the carrot-ginger salad and the spinach from the tortellini I consider it a success. Plus I totally ate the broccoli, even though I HATE broccoli. Turns out broccoli cooked in sausage fat is much better than steamed broccoli. WHO KNEW?
Tags: cookbook, cooking, food, recipes, what's for dinner
1. Those all look delicious!
2. I LOVE broccoli sauteed with olive oil and lots of garlic – YUM.
3. I am *beyond* curious about your traumatic tortellini experience.
We had a “three bites of every new food” rule growing up. One night my mom made this soup recipe that was basically undercooked tortellini and carrots in plain broth. I took one bite and knew I HATED it but because of the rule my dad made me sit there until I ate 2 more. It was an EPIC stand-off, complete with crying and gagging, because the longer I sat there staring at the stupid soup the grosser and grosser it got in my head until I literally made myself sick. I think at the end my mom let me compromise with just one more bite and no dessert. I think I was 10. I haven’t eaten or made tortellini since then – and I’m not going to eat or make it anymore.
YUM!!! :)
I love you. I’ve got 3 recipes from What’s for Dinner Volume 3 on our menu for this week. You make my meal planning SO MUCH EASIER.
i just snagged a few for our menu this week! these are some of my fave posts that you do so keep up the good work…you know, when your not caring for kiddos :)
Once again, mmmmmmmm.
p.s. my husband calls #3 “ponchos” and we eat it entirely too often. YUMMY!
It’s just soooo easy and delicious. Plus if I put E in charge of making dinner it ALWAYS what he picks. We actually had it TWICE during the time I made all these recipes.
I want the pizza recipe! And taco salad is a staple in this house too.
no YOU were licking the screen of my computer.
photos are almost as beautiful as eating itself.
YUM!
Seriously, you are putting me to shame with your weekly menus. I have GOT to start being more adventurous. I used to be, but w/ the girls in their standoff phases, I tend to stick to more reliable recipes. But they still standoff, so maybe I should just make new stuff anyway?
You’re inspiring me, that’s for sure!
yum. seriously, is their anything you can’t do?!
Sarah-Anne
Can I just say that you did an amazing job here? This looks fantastically delicious. Also I too dislike RR for the same reasons.
RE: vegetables– have you tried oven roasted cauliflower? It’s bangup easy. Get your cauliflower florets (you can buy them already cut and cleaned, or just get a head of cauliflower and do it yourself for literally 1/3 the price) and toss them with 1-2tbl olive oil and seasoning (I usually use salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a bit of paprika). Chuck it onto a pan (I use a glass casserole) and bake in an oven preheated to 400* and cook 20-40 minutes or until the cauliflower’s all soft cooked and lightly browned on top. You might want to give it all a stir halfway through.
If you want to dress this up, you can add shredded cheese (swiss works really well) at about 25 minutes in, or you could top with bread crumbs and a little drizzle of oil. Or both.
It’s super easy and very tasty.
I made chicken stock last night, and today I reduced some of the stock prior to freezing for future use; made chicken and veggie soup; have a bunch of broth left over; made beef and barley soup. I didn’t use chicken stock for the beef & barley soup, but I did make it today.
i think my husband would love me more if i made him meals like this all the time. time to step up my game or something!