Weekly Meal Planning, Week of 1.30.12

This second half of January has seriously not been kind to me, health-wise. Last week I had horrible cold, and this week, I came down with strep throat. It was a particularly nasty case, including a fever, chills, fatigue, head and body aches, and, of course, the incredibly painful sore throat. It's been a long time since I've been that sick. I was aboslutely miserable, and didn't even eat anything for nearly three days, much less cook anything or meal plan for the coming week. I pretty much spent the entire time huddled in my bed, trying to sleep, and trying not to cry. 

I started feeling more like myself on Friday, and today I feel practically 100% -- my head still just pounds a little bit when I start doing too much, know that feeling? Anyway, I was able to eke out a meal plan for the upcoming week, and it's filled with all of Joe's favorite meals (as well as a couple of things from last week's plan that I didn't get to make, due to The Sickness). I am all about celebrating him for the coming week, since he did such an amazing job of taking care of me and the boys while I was sick. I didn't even see Andrew and Will for a couple of days, so he had to do everything on his own: morning wake-ups, breakfasts, daycare drop-offs and pick-ups, packing lunches, making dinner, doing the dishes, baths, stories and songs and the entire bedtime routine. He did an awesome job keeping the house up and running, and it really made me appreciate having him as a partner on a completely new level. Making a few of his favorite things is the least I can do. And another good thing? Most of these meals are so hearty that I probably won't need a meal plan next week at all.

Monday: Chicken with paprika cream sauce, egg noodles, steamed green beans. I'd planned to make this last Wednesday, but that's when The Sickness hit. I did not, sadly, make a batch of homemade noodles this weekend (instead I used my baking time to make a mocha cake that I can't wait to share with you), but I found some high-quality spaetzle at the supermarket that I think will be perfect for this dish.

Tuesday: Crescent pizza rolls and salad. I felt better on Friday, but I still didn't make these. I ordered pizza instead, because I was just that lazy.

Wednesday: Bacon pierogi bake. Joe has requested that I double this this time around, so he has plenty to take to work for lunches. I'm happy to oblige, since I love this so much too.

Thursday: Black bean and salsa soup, cheese quesadillas. Okay, this isn't technically one of Joe's favorites, but he does like it. I put it on the meal plan because I was talking about it to someone at work recently, and it just made me remember how delicious it is.

Friday: Swedish meatballs, egg noodles. Technically these aren't Joe's favorite meatballs, but considering all the spicy sausage we'll be eating this coming weekend I figured three in a row was overkill. He does love these, and his eyes practically lit up when I told him I'd be making them.

Saturday: Lasagna and garlic bread. This is the very first recipe I posted on this blog, and even though I've made so many delicious things since, this is still Joe's absolute favorite meal.

Sunday: Chili with Monterey ranch bread. It's Super Bowl Sunday, so it seems like a perfect night to have this for dinner. And Joe's been clamoring for a pot of this ever since the beginning of football season. The bread is the perfect accompaniment, and is too delicious for words.  

Tater Tot Nachos

It’s no secret that Joe and I love Mexican food, and that we eat it frequently. On nights that I plan for Mexican food, though, I usually always have to have a back-up meal in place for Andrew and Will. Their relationship with Mexican food is kind of up and down. Sometimes they love something I make (this Mexican sour cream rice is always a hit with them), but often, they take one bite of the dish I put in front of them and refuse to eat the rest. I didn’t like Mexican food much myself when I was a kid, so I’m hoping this is just a phase and that they’ll grow out of it.

The night I served these tater tot nachos, though, they had no qualms about chowing down. They love tater tots, and would probably eat them if they were covered with dirt (really, they are boys; I wouldn’t doubt that they’d actually eat something covered with dirt). As for Joe and me, we loved these too. Sometimes it’s just really fun to eat like a kid.

Tater Tot Nachos
adapted from Real Mom Kitchen

1 24-ounce package tater tots
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 packet taco seasoning
Shredded lettuce
Shredded cheese
Sour cream
Salsa

1. Prepare tater tots according to package directions.

2. While the tater tots cook, brown ground beef with onion and taco seasoning in a skillet until no longer pink; drain.

3. To serve, place tater tots on a plate and top with the meat mixture followed by lettuce, shredded cheese, sour cream, and salsa.

Honey Teriyaki Chicken with Bacon Fried Rice

Growing up, I never ate fried rice. Eggs in rice always just sounded strange to me. I stuck with my plain old steamed white rice whenever we ordered Chinese food. Then I met Joe, and in the early days of our relationship we ate Chinese food a lot. And he always ordered fried rice. After much pestering from him, I finally consented to trying it, and realized that I’d been a fool for so long. Fried rice is delicious! In the years since, I’ve even developed my own at-home version that we enjoy frequently.

This recipe, my friends, takes fried rice to a completely new level with the addition of bacon. Yes, bacon! It’s also loaded with tons of fresh veggies to balance out all that bacon, and it’s this wonderful, savory, salty, delicious thing with all kinds of great textures: crisp bacon, soft eggs, peas that pop and bean sprouts that crunch. I served it with honey teriyaki chicken, which was a delicious sweet counterpoint to the rice, but this rice also would have been good on its own. It was definitely the star of this meal. This recipe makes a ton, so you’ll be eating it for days, but trust me: That is definitely not a bad thing.

Honey Teriyaki Chicken with Bacon Fried Rice
chicken adapted from Rachael Ray; rice adapted from Cooking with Cristine

For the chicken:

1 pound chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce

For the rice:

1 egg, beaten
1 pound bacon, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cups cooked rice
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup soy sauce

1. For the chicken, heat a small amount of vegetable oil in a large skillet. Season chicken with salt and pepper and cook until browned and cook through. In a separate bowl, combine chicken broth, ginger, honey and teriyaki sauce. Pour over chicken. Reduce heat and simmer until serving.

2. For the bacon, heat vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet. Pour egg into wok. As egg sets, lift edges letting uncooked portion flow underneath. When egg is done, move to plate and set aside.

3. In same wok, cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon to paper towels. Reserve 2 tablespoons drippings.

4. Saute mushrooms and onions in bacon drippings. Stir in rice, bean sprouts, peas, soy sauce, and bacon. Chop egg into small pieces; stir into wok and heat through.

5. Serve chicken over rice.

Weekly Meal Planning, Week of 1.23.12

Sorry for disappearing there for a few days. I can't remember the last time I didn't post a full week's worth of recipes here on the blog. Thursday I was incredibly busy, and then on Thursday afternoon I got some kind of winter crud that's been going around. I suppose it was too much to ask to go through the entire winter without getting sick. I spent all day Friday in bed and finally started to feel more human yesterday.

When I planned our menu on Thursday night, I was definitely feeling crappy, and all I wanted to eat was comfort food. As a result, that's what our meals are full of this week -- lots of comfort and, incidentally, lots of cream. Not so good for my waistline, but definitely good for my soul! :)

Monday: Cheeseburger lettuce wraps, chips. I'll modify this recipe a bit, adding pickles and some diced tomatoes directly to the meat mixture, and probably drizzle them with Thousand Island dressing.

Tuesday: Southwestern English muffin breakfast sandwiches, hash browns. This recipe idea came from things we have on hand (English muffins, bacon) and things that are on sale this week (avocado, eggs). I'm already looking forward to this meal!

Wednesday: Chicken with paprika cream sauce, egg noodles. The recipe calls for chicken legs, but I'll use a couple of chopped breasts since I have them on  hand. I'll make the egg noodles this afternoon and let them dry for the next couple of days until this meal. That worked out really well the last time I made them.

Thursday: I may have mentioned this before, but for whatever reason I am totally burnt out on cooking on Thursdays. This is the night I'm most likely to ditch my meal plan and serve cereal or chicken nuggets or Chinese take-out for dinner. I'm embracing that this week, and leaving this night open for whatever I feel like making (or ordering).

Friday: Crescent pizza rolls, salad. We love these simple and delicious pizza rolls, which are made by rolling up a piece of string cheese and some pepperoni in a crescent roll and baking them. There's really not much of a recipe involved, but I'll post my version soon.

Saturday: Pasta alla norcina, crusty bread with olive oil and dipping spices. This pasta pretty much made me drool the instant I saw it on Pinterest. I cannot wait to try it. Dipping crusty bread in seasoned olive oil always seems so luxurious to me, so I'm pretty excited for that too.

Sunday: Shrimp enchiladas verdes with jalapeno cream sauce. I can promise you that I will be looking forward to these enchiladas all week long.

Roasted Garlic Macaroni and Cheese

When it comes to garlic, I’m pretty sure my devotion rivals that of Rachael Ray. Well, I maybe don’t love it quite as much as she does, considering that I watched an episode of her show recently when she talked about buying it by the half-bushel...but still. I love garlic, and put it in practically everything I make.

When raw, garlic is so sharp and pungent, but something magical happens to it when you roast it. Seriously, if you’ve never roasted garlic...WHY NOT? Go do it RIGHT NOW. It turns into this caramelized, soft, sweet, toasty sort of thing that is definitely one of the most delicious things on the planet.

When I saw this recipe on Annie’s blog, inspired by a garlic cheddar cheese she bought in Vermont, I knew I would be making it. I’ve since made it three or four times, and it is definitely a family favorite. Since I can’t just up and travel to Vermont for some garlic cheddar cheese, I use sharp white cheddar for this, which I think offsets the smooth and mellow flavor of the roasted garlic perfectly. The Boursin makes this so creamy and highlights the garlic flavor even more. Annie bakes her version, but I just make it on the stovetop to keep it really creamy. Even though this recipe is for an entire pound of pasta, I’m not ashamed to admit that we rarely have leftovers of this in my house.

Roasted Garlic Macaroni and Cheese
adapted from Annie’s Eats

1 head garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
12-16 ounces penne rigate
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
8 ounces white cheddar cheese, shredded
1 container (usually 5 to 6 ounces) Boursin (garlic and herb spreadable cheese)
Salt and pepper

1. To roast the garlic, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove most of the outer paper skins from the head of garlic, leaving it intact. Slice off the top portion of the head so that all of the cloves are exposed at the top, but the head is still intact. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the head of garlic on a piece of foil and loosely fold the foil up around the head of garlic to create a foil packet. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the cloves are easily squeezed from the skins. Squeeze all of the garlic out of the skins and smash with a fork to make a paste.

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta to al dente according to the package directions. Drain in a colander. Return the pasta to the pot and set aside.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour and the roasted garlic paste and cook, stirring constantly, until light golden, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce comes to a low boil and thickens noticeably. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cheddar and Boursin. Whisk until the cheese is completely melted.

4. Add cheese sauce to reserved pasta and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.