Weekly Meal Planning

Late last night we returned home from a long day trip to Michigan, and our whole family is just exhausted after spending eight hours in the car in one day. So this week's menu is all about meals that are quick, comforting, and easy to prepare. I think it's going to take me at least a week to catch up after all of yesterday's activity!

Monday -- Soup or Salad: Buffalo chicken tenders salad

Tuesday -- Pasta: Cajun chicken pasta, breadsticks

Wednesday -- Grilling: Hot dogs with Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce, grilled corn on the cob

Thursday -- Quick and Easy: Sloppy joes, potato chips

Friday -- Burgers and Fries: Pressed Cuban-style burgers, steak fries with cilantro-lime mayonnaise

Saturday -- Regional or International: Feta, herb, and sun-dried tomato-stuffed chicken, cucumber-orzo salad

Sunday -- Comfort Food: Philly cheesesteak mac and cheese

Burger and Fries Friday: Waffle House Burgers

There's something I haven't told you guys. It's not that I've been intentionally holding this little factoid back, it's just that it hasn't come up in our conversations. Okay, here goes: When I was younger, from the ages of 16 to 22, I was a waitress. Probably not earth-shattering news in and of itself, but the place I waitressed? It was the Waffle House. And let me tell you, I really loved that job.

One of the things I loved about it -- aside from the (mostly) positive interaction with people -- was the food. I probably gained more weight during those six years than at any other point in my life, and I think I can include my first pregnancy in that estimate! As employees, we could eat almost everything on the menu for free, and the burger I'm sharing with you today was one of my favorite things to eat during my shifts.

True to the Waffle House's reputation, this burger is not in the least bit healthy. It's buttery and greasy and represents pretty much everything in the world that's bad for you. But it's so delicious that I find it hard to care.

Aside from when I'm grilling, this is the only burger I make using pre-shaped burger patties. I get beautiful ground chuck patties from our local butcher, and they're perfect for this burger. The bottom line is, this one is so good that it doesn't actually need anything in it to make it taste better. Every bite is a little taste of nostalgia for me, taking me back to my first job, when things were simpler and all I had to worry about was the next tip I'd be stuffing in my apron.

Waffle House Burgers

Source: Cassie

4 pre-shaped ground chuck patties

Salt and pepper

Vegetable oil and butter

1 large onion, thinly sliced

4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

4 slices tomato

Thousand Island salad dressing

4 hamburger buns, split, buttered, and grilled

1. In a small saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add onion and salt and pepper to taste and cook until onions begin to caramelize.

2. Meanwhile, melt vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet. Season burger patties with salt and pepper on both sides. Cook to desired doneness. Top each patty with 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, then top with cheese to melt.

3. Assemble burgers by placing a slice of salted tomato, the caramelized onions, and the Thousand Island dressing on top of each patty.

"Olive Garden Salad Dressing"

I put the title of this recipe in quotes, because to be completely honest, this salad dressing tasted absolutely nothing like Olive Garden's famous dressing, at least not to my tastebuds. That's not to say it's not a delicious dressing in its own right -- it is -- but it just didn't fulfill that craving I sometimes have for Olive Garden's dressing.

The website where I found this copycat recipe also has another recipe for this dressing, which I have a feeling probably tastes a bit more like the original -- but it contains raw egg, which my pregnant self can't have right now.

This truly is a very good salad dressing, as long as you don't have expectations that it's going to taste like the original. For my part, when I'm craving Olive Garden's dressing, I'm just going to go to the restaurant across the street from where I work and buy a bottle of it.

"Olive Garden Salad Dressing"
Source: Group Recipes

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons corn syrup (I used sugar)
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons Romano cheese
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt (or 1 garlic clove, minced)
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Mix all ingredients in a blender or food processor until well-combined. Serve over salad.

Tuscan Garlic Chicken Pasta

I'd been looking forward to making this meal for a long time, pretty much ever since Lisa introduced me to the recipe section of Olive Garden's website way back when. I've only had this dish once in the actual restaurant that I can recall, but I remember thinking it was pretty good.

That's exactly what I'd call this at-home version of the dish: pretty good. It wasn't fantastic, but it wasn't terrible either. The chicken had a nice crispy skin and was very flavorful, but Joe and I were both underwhelmed by the pasta. We both found it too bland for our tastes. I think the sauce needed some red pepper flakes, or even just some black pepper, to spice it up a bit.

It wasn't bad, though, and it wasn't nearly as expensive to make at home as it would have been to order in the restaurant. Overall this was a decent dish -- but it's probably not something I'll rush to make again.

Tuscan Garlic Chicken Pasta
Source: Olive Garden

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 1/2 cups flour, plus 1 tablespoon

1 tablespoon salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1 pound fettuccine pasta, cooked according to package directions

5 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon garlic, chopped

1 red pepper, julienne cut

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 pound whole leaf spinach, stemmed (I used baby spinach)

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Pre-heat oven to 350º.

2. Mix 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in the mixture, shaking off any excess.

3. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet. Cook chicken breasts 2 at a time over medium-high heat until golden brown and crisp (2-3 minutes). Add more oil for each batch as necessary.

4. Place cooked chicken breasts on a baking sheet and transfer to preheated oven. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165°.

5. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a sauce pan. Add garlic and red pepper and cook for approximately 1 minute. Stir in 1 tablespoon flour, wine, spinach and cream and bring to a boil. Sauce is done when spinach becomes wilted. Complete by stirring in parmesan cheese.

6. Coat cooked, drained pasta with sauce, then top with chicken and remaining sauce. Garnish with extra Parmesan cheese.

Fruity Poppy Seed Salad

Yesterday saw the return of some really, really hot weather to central Ohio, so it was the perfect night to have salad for dinner. I've had my eye on Jessie's fruity poppy seed salad recipe for a while now, and I'm so glad I finally got around to making it. It was so simple, and it truly is one of the most delicious salads I've ever had. I love fruity salads during the spring and summer, so this one was right up my alley.

Like Jessie's husband, my husband maintains that a salad without meat is not really a meal, so I grilled up a chicken breast and sliced it over the top. This made for a light, refreshing, and very satisfying dinner on a miserably hot day.

Fruity Poppy Seed Salad
Source: adapted from Jessie

1 chicken breast, sliced across the center to form 2 thin cutlets
Montreal steak seasoning
Half a bag of chopped romaine lettuce, washed and patted dry

1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced

1 can mandarin oranges in juice, drained
1 cup blueberries

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup sliced green onion

Poppy seed salad dressing

1. Season chicken with steak seasoning and grill until cooked through. Let rest, then thinly slice.

2. Mix all salad ingredients except dressing in a large bowl. Top with sliced chicken. Toss dressing with salad or serve on the side.