Egg roll in a bowl, lasagne, honey garlic sheet pan chicken, sweet n' spicy salmon with stir-fried vegetables, fajita quesadillas
This is my 100th blog post. I wasn't sure how long I would continue to post each week, but here we are. I hope you enjoy my posts and meal plans, and I would love to hear from you if you do!
I'm still loving meal planning around here, and I'm still loving using up what's in the fridge and freezer. I am definitely not surprised that we haven't run out of stuff yet! And neither is anyone else in my household... lol I have always found great comfort in having a well-stocked pantry and fridge. Maybe it's partly because we live in the country and it's never been that easy to just hop in the car and run to town for groceries (especially since the closest grocery store closed a couple of years ago). It may also be partly because I used to cook based on what I felt like eating (usually a decision made at the last minute!) so running off to the grocery store to buy the ingredients wasn't convenient or feasible. Whatever the reason, it's a habit I have found most difficult to break. Can any of you relate?
On the menu February 2 - 10, 2020:
Sunday Leftovers / eat out / takeout
Monday Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry (or as we like to call it, Egg Roll in a Bowl) with rice
There is just something about this dish. It's always good, even the next day. Definitely one of our favourites, especially made with ground turkey. I only ever use 1 teaspoon of Sriracha although my son always adds more to his dish. If you don’t like spicy foods, you may find that even 1 teaspoon is hot, but since it gives this dish a unique flavour, you won’t want to leave it out altogether. I always use a bag of coleslaw mix for easy prep and never skip the green onions or sesame seeds. Delicious and budget-friendly!
Tuesday Lasagna with green salad
Despite how it looks in a photo, lasagne is always delicious, and this one was no exception. I started with a homemade sauce (check out Robyn's Bolognese Sauce), adapted from a recipe by Anne Mann, and used local organic, grass-fed ground beef from Trick's Creek Farm. I think I "hit it out of the park" tonight with this lasagne and that may be a first. My son does not usually like ricotta at all, but he confessed that tonight he actually did. I found "artisanal" ricotta at Costco (600+ grams for only $4.69!) and it was very firm and pretty amazing. The recipe for lasagna that I used comes from “Anne’s Favourites” by Anne Mann. Pretty much any basic lasagna recipe will work, though. Start by layering some meat sauce in the bottom of a greased 9x13 inch pan. Top with 3 cooked lasagna noodles and then completely cover the noodles with more sauce. Next, add 3 more cooked lasagna noodles and top those with a container of ricotta mixed with one egg (I used the whole container). Top the ricotta with some grated mozzarella (enough to cover). (Maybe this was the secret to ricotta my son liked?) Put 3 more lasagna noodles on top of the cheese. Cover the noodles with sauce and top with mozzarella and Parmesan, Romano or Asiago. Bake at 350 F for about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and cover the pan with foil. Continue cooking for about 30 minutes covered. Let stand about 10 minutes before serving. Amazing!! I made the meat sauce the night before and froze about half of it to serve another day. When I have time, I like to do that since it makes prep for the next meal super easy.
Wednesday One Pan Honey Garlic Chicken and Veggies
You can hardly go wrong with crispy potatoes, tender-crisp veggies and moist chicken cooked all in one pan. We were slightly disappointed that the honey garlic flavour wasn't more pronounced on the chicken. Maybe marinating ahead of time would have helped? But it was still yummy. My son announced that the broccoli was his favourite part. I cooked it along with the chicken from the beginning, rather than adding it during the last 10 minutes and broiling it. It was very good and I also used some red pepper for colour, topped with just a bit of olive oil. We enjoyed this.
Thursday Leftovers / eat out / takeout
Friday Sweet 'n Spicy Salmon with Stir-fried Vegetables and rice
Sometimes simple really is best. This easy (and super fast!) salmon dish was simply good. I used a bit less Sriracha than the recipe called for, but I think it would have been just fine if I'd used the whole amount. (I left it off my mom's salmon all together since she doesn't like any spice.) The rest of us really enjoyed the mix of sweet and spicy. The veggies were such pretty, vibrant colours and the whole meal tasted as good as it looked! I often forget how nice it is to change up the veggies in our diet from the usual broccoli and carrots. Bok choy is one vegetable that I don't often think to buy but it is really delicious fried tender-crisp in a little oil with some garlic and ginger. The mushrooms and sweet peppers pair really well with it, too. I used Shanghai bok choy since that's all that was available and it worked fine. I will be making this again soon (especially since I now have a jar of Thai sweet chili sauce in my fridge!) This recipe comes from "Skinnytaste Fast and Slow" by Gina Homolka. She's another one of my favourite cookbook authors. Love this cookbook!
Saturday Fajita Quesadillas with guacamole, salsa and sour cream
I wanted to use up the leftover pot roast from last week (see my post here) which I had stored in the freezer, and I came across this recipe. Although it calls for leftover steak, our leftover pot roast was just perfect in its place. It's been a while since we've had tortillas or fajitas, and I do love a good fajita! Quick and easy - perfect for Saturday night when you just want to relax.
#quickandeasymeals #weeknightmeals #mealplanning #eatmoreveggies #skinnytaste #yumandyummer #alltheveggies #iloveveggies #trickscreekfarm
Comments