-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Take Out Knock Offs
During the early days of the pandemic, we were really good about eating at home – we had to be. Then we went through a phase where we supported local restaurants and ate out or brought back food from some of our favorite spots. Now that it’s December, we have come full circle. Eating out is a little more difficult again, with increased restrictions on mask-wearing. We are also trying to hang on to the budget that tends to get away from us this time of year. That’s not to say we don’t still eat out or bring back take out, but we are trying to be a bit better.…
-
Easy Weeknight Meals for Hot Nights
It is HOT here in NC this week – the heat index has been above 100º all week. As we say here in the South, it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity that makes it so unbearable. On these kind of nights, no one feels like cooking. You want something fresh and easy, quick and dirty. Well, not dirty. No one wants dirty food. Anyway, awhile back, we were introduced to Barramundi. Barramundi is a fish. Sustainable sea bass to be more specific. It is native to Australia and the Indo-Pacific. It is a delicious, firm fish that doesn’t taste fishy, if you know what I mean. I recently discovered…
