Dinner
-
The Best Laid Plans
Monday morning started well. We had lots of appointments scheduled for the week, but I was ready to take them on. As I finished my morning coffee, I watched a segment on the Today Show with the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. She was cooking a couple of things, but one in particular caught my eye. She was showing the crew how to make sheet pan-roasted veggies with gnocchi. It looked delicious, super easy and perfect for a speedy weeknight meal. I was so excited to try it, I got ready for the day and ran to Aldi to get the ingredients. I had high hopes of making the new recipe…
-
Slow Cooker Saviors
We are squarely in the middle of September and our calendars are getting more full by the day. Along with school, we are running around to various appointments multiple times a week. It is definitely a good time to pull out the slow cooker and work that baby. We love Salsa Verde, and I have seen recipes for Salsa Verde chicken in the slow cooker, so I thought we would give that a shot this week. There are a lot of variations, but I chose to try a super simple recipe from www.sugarylogic.com. The recipe only uses 5 ingredients and requires minimal prep. It is a great option for busy…
-
Rolling in the Dough
We picked up a funny date night habit since Covid. Once we felt safe enough to venture from our homes, we started going out with some friends for dinner every now and then. When dinner was cleared away, it felt like the evening was too young to go back home, so we looked for something else to do. Well, most coffee shops and ice cream joints closed early, so we took up the habit of hitting the grocery stores – Trader Joe’s being our favorite date night splurge. I do love Trader Joe’s but it is not my normal grocery store, so it still feels like a treat to shop…
-
Taking Grilled Cheese Up a Notch
Last week, we took a day trip out of town to go see the Immersive VanGogh art exhibit in Charlotte, NC. The exhibit was very cool, bringing the famous artist’s works to life in a large warehouse at Charlotte’s CAMP North End event venue. The area gets it’s name from it’s past history as the Charlotte Area Munitions Plant. The group of warehouses has served many purposes over the years, most recently being turned into the public space it is today. It embraces it’s history, while providing exciting new spaces for art, work, food and play. We had tickets for the exhibit on a Monday, and it turns out many…
-
Fish That’s not Fishy
A few years ago, we discovered Barramundi, which is a sustainable sea bass. It is a delicious white fish that doesn’t taste fishy at all and doesn’t make you feel guilty for eating it. We really like it, but I tend to shy away from cooking too much fish at home. It’s so delicious and good for you, I need to serve it more often. I shared a recipe for fish tacos using Barramundi with you before and you can find that recipe here. But I was looking for some other ways to serve it. I poked around the internet to find some inspiration and found a recipe for Pecan…
-
Simple Summer Supper
While we were freezing corn last week, we pulled some from the batch to eat later that day because it was so delicious. I could totally eat JUST corn for dinner, but thought I should have something else with it for the rest of the family. After helping my mom with the corn in the morning, I was hot, tired and uninspired. I started poking around the pantry and found some fun pasta that I had found awhile back at Trader Joe’s. It was tiny, tricolor spirals, perfect for holding sauce or dressing. I decided on a pasta salad of some sort. Next, I found some Halloumi cheese hiding in…
-
You Had Me at Tacos
My grandmother on my dad’s side was old school. She was a meat and potatoes kind of lady of Scotch-Irish descent. All other food was of no interest to her. Other cuisines didn’t come up much in conversation, but I do remember she considered tacos a snack, not a meal. I am not sure why that amuses me, but it does. A couple generations later, my family loves tacos. They are fast, easy and can be extremely versatile. You can have them for any meal, even breakfast. They do make a mean snack, too. We like classic ground beef tacos, chicken, and even fish. This week, I thought I would…
-
Cooking with Coca Cola
We just had our first out-of-town guest since the pandemic began. That’s kind of a crazy thought. But my mother-in-law took a short break from her hectic life to hang out with us for a couple of days. We did venture to our downtown science museum, but mostly we just do our normal things, which included bringing Grandma along to swim practice. We did grill hamburgers once while she was here, but it has been hot and humid, with evening storms always a threat. I had purchased some chicken breasts to grill, but decided to cook them in the slow cooker instead of trying to work around rain. I did…
-
Speedy Meals for Summer Nights
I am not sure why it is harder to wrap my brain around slow cooker meals that suit summer, but it is. My brain tends towards stews and chilis in the slow cooker, which is really not usual summer dinner fare. But honestly, summer is the perfect time to pull out the slow cooker. You can prep meals in advance and keep your kitchen cool by not turning on the oven or stove top. You can spend a bit of the morning getting dinner prepped and in the pot then you can lounge by the pool all day. Or more realistically run Mom’s taxi service for the kids. My summer…
-
The Tuscan Chicken Bandwagon
If you follow any food blogs or just like gorgeous food photos on Instagram, you hay have noticed Creamy Tuscan Chicken swept through the universe a while back. I was intrigued, but honestly not enough to try it. For one thing, it really isn’t very pretty. Well, here we are with Summer Swim in full swing for our youngest daughter, meaning we are at the pool 4 days a week from 4:30-5:30, which is prime dinner-making time. So I hit the Internet to look for healthy meals that can be prepped ahead, like casseroles or slow cooker meals. A slow cooker version of Tuscan Chicken popped up, so I decided…
