Low carb Greek chicken meal prep bowls, summer salads with Italian sausage, pierogies, pizza-stuffed spaghetti squash, roasted vegetable pasta sauce
This week was HOT around here so we've been sleeping with the windows open. I love hearing all of the forest night sounds as I fall asleep. For years now, I've been listening to tree frogs throughout the spring and summer. They have the most interesting call. I've spotted small green ones on our window screens at night sometimes, but I never thought about them too much beyond that. Recently someone in a Facebook group posted a photo and I realized that the Gray Tree Frog is the one I've been hearing. Apparently, they can grow up to 6 cm long and are varying shades of green, brown, or grey to blend in with tree bark. Blue Jays find them a tasty meal (who knew?) I'd love to track one down outside and get a photo of it in its natural habitat, but to date, I've never seen one other than on a screen.
I'm not really a reptile fan, but we've also spotted several garter snakes in the yard. Happily, there have been some feathered friends as well. We discovered this Eastern Phoebe's nest above the door to the shed. I love how they used moss to make it.
My son is the only one tall enough to photograph the residents and yesterday he said, "I think it's dead, Mom."
And then, "Nope, that's not dead!" Admittedly, this is not a very cute baby bird, but once it has feathers, it will be adorable.
The parents are never far away and keep a close eye on things.
The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have also returned to the yard. This is the female pictured here. I've been making my own nectar for them and it's really simple - one part white sugar to four parts water. I barely simmer the water in a pot to dissolve the sugar. Cool and "serve". That's it! They seem to like it. The male has been around quite a bit as well, but I didn't manage to get his photograph today.
My meal plan underwent a few last minutes changes this week as I tried to avoid using the oven too much. Now that spring/summer has finally arrived, I will be looking ahead to see what the weather is doing so that I can plan meals accordingly. When it's hot, who really feels like eating a casserole anyway? I'm loving all of the fresh produce that's available now and hope to use a lot of it in my cooking. Watch for tasty salads and other "cool" meals featuring local veggies that your whole family will enjoy.
On the menu May 24 - 30, 2020:
Sunday Leftovers / takeout
If I had to leave the house for work, this would be a great lunch to take. I didn't make it ahead but served it right from the oven. It was so good! I loved the seasonings and the flavours worked really well together. It was also very satisfying. I served a pasta salad alongside it but skipped that for myself and I didn't miss the carbs. It cooked in about 20 minutes, so the oven was on for a very short time. I will definitely be making this again!
Tuesday Trick's Creek Farm Hamburgers with lettuce salad
Sometimes nothing but a Trick's Creek Farm burger will do. I enjoyed mine in a portobello mushroom "bun". Yum!! If you haven't tried them yet, you really must!!
Wednesday Best Ever Broccoli Salad, Asparagus Greek Chopped Salad, Zesty Italian Pasta Salad and Trick's Creek Farm Mild Italian Sausage
We love salads during the summer and I always enjoy trying new recipes or making old favourites. This Broccoli Salad recipe is simply the best, so I don't even bother trying anything different. We also really enjoyed the Asparagus Greek Chopped Salad I made a few weeks ago, and now that Ontario asparagus is in season, it seemed like an easy choice. And finally, I've been making this Zesty Italian Pasta Salad forever. I love that almost any vegetable goes well in it. Tonight I used quartered mushrooms, sliced zucchini, sweet peppers, and cherry tomatoes. I like to add the veggies just before serving (or at most a few hours before) since they tend to get soggy. I skipped the Parmesan tonight, but it's good if you want to add it! These salads went so well with grilled Mild Italian Sausage from Trick's Creek Farm. This was the perfect meal for a hot summer evening.
Thursday Leftovers / takeout
I think I've mentioned that I am not a fan of just anything with spaghetti squash; however, it's hard to go wrong with cheese and pizza toppings. This was just as the blogger said - "an explosion of flavor". I don't think you can have too much tomato sauce or too much cheese, so be generous. Since the weather has turned warm, I figured it was high time to get this squash used up and off my counter! Super good!
Saturday Roasted Vegetable Sauce with spaghetti, green salad and garlic bread
The weather cooled off today, so I decided to use up some of the veggies in my fridge and make this superior sauce. We're trying to eat less meat these days, and this recipe ticked off that box as well. The actual recipe I used came from the June/July 2020 issue of Taste of Home and had the exact same name, but currently, it isn't available online. Basically, you roast zucchini, carrots, onions, mushrooms, sweet peppers, and green pepper with olive oil, garlic, and Italian seasoning. I also added some cauliflower because I needed to use it up. After the veggies are roasted and have cooled slightly, puree them in a blender or food processor along with a can or two of crushed tomatoes. (The original recipe makes 2 quarts or 16 servings, so I had to do this in a few batches, but you could easily cut the recipe in half.) The crushed tomatoes were needed to help the rest of the veggies puree nicely. Return the pureed sauce to the pot along with 1/2 cup of dry red wine (I used some water, red wine vinegar, and a little sugar) and simmer for about 10 minutes uncovered. Super good! This freezes really well and could be used as a base for lasagne or any other pasta dishes your family loves.
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